University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


BY 


JAMES  E.  POTTER, 

AUTHOR  OF  AMERICAN  LECTURERS,  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATIONS  ARRANGED  BY  THE 
AUTHOR. 


STEPHENS  PRINTING  COMPANY, 
SANTA  FE,  N.  M. 


COPYRIGHTED 
BY 

JAMES  E.  POTTER, 

1897. 


I  DEDICATE  THESE  TALKS 

TO  ONE 

WHOSE  INFLUENCE,  IN  A  GREAT  MEASURE, 

ENABLED  ME  TO  PRODUCE  THEM, 

WILLIAM  J.  MILNE. 


CONTENTS. 


TALKS  ON  NATURE. 

Nature's  Influences. 7 

Venus, 11 

No  Polar  Sea, 15 

Electricity, 17 

Winds, 19 

Spring, 21 

Arbor  Day, 23 

Cultivate  Flowers,  , 24 

Autumn  Woods, 25 

FARM  TALKS. 

Mistakes  of  Farmers, 28 

Industrial  Education, 35 

The  Great  West, 37 

The  Plaza, 39 

Praying  for  Rain, 40 

The  Mexican  Dog, 43 

The  Donkey, 45 

The  Minister  at  the  Farm, 49 

TALKS  WITH  CHRONICS. 

The  Rocky  Mountain  Plateau, 52 

Thoughts  for  Chronics, 60 

Philosophy  for  Chronics, 61 

Cheer  for  Chronics, 63 


TALKS  THROWN  IN. 

PAGE. 

Nothing  in  the  Book, 66 

American  Originality, 68 

Contagion, 70 

Modern  Editorials, 72 

Whiskers, 74 

Poetry,     .      / 76 

Spring  Hats, 78 

The  Circus, /     .      .  80 

Review  the  Mouth, 82 

Mine  Disasters, 84 

Fairness, 85 

How  to  Treat  a  Wife,     ....  87 

SOCIAL  TALKS. 

Physiognomy, 91 

Exertion, 94 

Vacation,       . 96 

Citizen's  Associations, 98 

Usefulness  of  the  Press, 100 

Wealth  and  Newspapers, 101 

Anlnherent  Trait, 103 

Hints, 105 

Smoking, 106 

Contentment, .  108 

The  Need  of  the  Age, 110 

Unity, 112 

Generosity, 114 

The  Aristocrat, 115 

Motherhood, 117 

TALKS  ON  NATIVE  LAND. 

Patriotism, 121 

Patriotism  of  Women, 124 


I'AdK. 


A  Better  Age, :      .  .      .  126 

Inherited  Greatness,     .      .      ...      .      .      .  128 

Independence  in  Politics, 130 

Memorial  Day, 132 

Fourth  of  July  Facts,    ........  134 

Independence  Day,      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .  135 

FOREIGN  TALKS. 

An  Ocean  Voyage, 139 

Americans  in  England,     .      .      .      .      .      .      .  142 

Englishmen  in  America, 145 

Across  Europe, 147 

The  Czar  of  the  Russians, 149 

Paris, 153 

Marchesi, '.  154 

EDUCATIONAL  TALKS. 

The  Teacher's  Relation  to  Society,   ....  158 

The  Power  of  Language,   .      .      .   •  .      .      .      .  163 

The  Use  of  Language, 165 

Foreign  Languages  in  District  Schools,      .      .  167 

Advice  for  Study, 168 

Preparing  for  School, 169 

Reading, 170 

Read, 172 

College  Athletics, 174 

Inductive  Teaching, .  176 

Commencement, .      .  179 

Graduation,     ....          182 

CHURCH  TALKS. 

Church  Ventilation, .  186 

Sabbath  Rest, 188 

Faults  of  Christians, 189 

The  Church  Collection,  190 


PAGE. 

Church  Responsibility, 191 

Intelligence  at  Church,      .......  192 

The  Sermon,       .      .      .      .      , 194 

Modern  Church  Devices 196 

Church  Attractions, 197 

Ritualism, 200 

Proselytism, .202 

Texts, 204 

Enlightenment  in  Church, 206 

Man's  Highest  Good, 208 

Heaven,.                        210 


IfcfcUSTRATIONS. 


"Autumn  Woods  by  Nature  Pahited"    ...  27 

"Ma  Crooned  to  Baby  and  Chirped  to  me''  .      .  51 

11  She  will  Plan  it," 90 

A  Crown  of  Motherhood, 120 

Emblems  Dear  to  Lovers  of  Liberty,   ....  IBM 

Blanche  Marchesi, 157 

William  J.  Milne,    .      . 178 

Russell  H.  Conwell,  199 


There  are  some  topics,  both  secular  and  religious,  a 
knowledge  of  which  can  not  be  obtained  by  an  ordinary 
course  of  reasoning.  One  treating  of  such  topics  by  an 
alogy  may  gain  the  confidence  of  readers,  if  the  reason 
ableness  of  that  which  is  said  appeals  to  the  mind. 


TALKS  ON  NATURE. 


There  are  powers  which  harmonize 
and  lead  the  minds  of  men.  There 
are  powers  which  mould  and  form 
men's  characters.  There  are  silent  forces  at  work 
shaping  men's  destinies. 

The  mind  is  susceptible  of  influences.  Deeds  are 
the  results  of  these  influences,  and  men  become 
honored  and  respected,  or  dishonored  and  degraded, 
as  the  influences  under  which  they  exist  are  good 
or  evil. 

Around  us  to-day  unrecognized,  are  all  the  won 
ders  of  Aeolu's  fable.  Engines  of  swiftness  and 
power,  surpassing  the  two  and  thirty  harnessed 
winds,  are  speeding  up  and  down  the  continents. 
Invisible  messages,  swift  as  rays  of  light,  and  as  si 
lent  as  waves  of  ether,  are  passing  through  the  air, 
and  under  the  seas.  The  broad  prairies  and  the 
trackless  ocean  are  no  longer  a  barrier,  and  man 
now  speaks  to  his  fellow  man  with  a  thousand 
miles  between  them,  as  easily  as  if  face  to  face. 


8  TALKS  ON  NATURE, 

The  influences  which  have  led  man  to  complete 
these  inventions  lie  in  nature.  In  their  construc 
tion,  man  has  used  the  same  mathematical  princi 
ples  for  his  guide  thai  nature  took  for  hers.  His 
very  laws  are  founded  on  the  laws  of  nature,  and 
man,  with  all  his  boasted  wisdom,  is  in  reality  a  be 
ing  unconsciously  swayed  by  the  influences  in  na 
ture  around  him. 

Man  received  his  first  lessons  in  painting  from 
nature.  She  painted  her  own  beauties  inverted  in 
the  silvery  waters  of  lake  and  river.  Man,  recogniz 
ing  in  her,  a  master  artist,  ingeniously  copied  upon 
canvas  the  pictures  that  she  had  outlined  on  the 
waters. 

In  autumn,  nature  gilds  the  woodlands  with  yel 
low  and  scarlet.  In  winter,  she  often  transforms 
them  all  into  sparkling  crystals  of  frost  work.  Man, 
copying  from"  her.  has  stamped  his  more  beautiful 
designs  with  silver,  and  inlaid  them  with  exquisite 
traceries  of  gold.  Men  shape  and  mould  with  de 
vices  that  are  wonderful  and  strange,  but  in  nature 
are  found  every  figure  and  curve  from  which  they 
are  all  conceived. 

Rivers  are  continuously  pouring  their  contents 
into  the  sea.  The  quiet  force,  evaporation,  lifts 
their  waters  far  above  the  earth,  and  noiselessly 
bears  them  back  to  nourish  vegetation.  Nature's 
wonderous  mechanism  has  performed  this  amazing 
task  for  centuries,  and  never  yet  has  the  machinery 
clashed  or  jarred.  To  the  thoughtful,  this  grand 
phenomenon  has  a  hidden  meaning.  It  is  nature's 


NATURE'S  INFLUENCES.  9 

mode  of  speaking  to  humanity  to  tell  them,  great 
accomplishments  are  achieved  by  the  persistent  ef 
forts  of  unpretentious  minds. 

A  sunbeam  comes  silently  to  earth  and  illumines 
the  pathway.  It  is  but  a  single  ray  of  light,  and 
yet  it  contains  rich  sources  of  beauty  and  of  power. 
Lodged  in  that  simple  beam  are  the  many  forces 
that  create  and  support  human  existence.  The  fall 
ing  rain,  the  blooming  flower,  life,  motion,  as  well 
as  thought  itself,  are  but  different  forms  of  its 
all  pervading  energy. 

The  commonest  objects  in  nature  are  all  endowed 
with  fascinations  as  wonderful  as  the  sunbeam,  and 
they,  like  the  salt  that  silently  operates,  influence 
us  to  make  the  most  of  our  protean  powers. 

Nature's  forces  are  strangely  linked  with  our  own 
lives,  and  from  them  radiate  the  influences  that 
inspire  each  and  all  with  nobler,  better  purposes. 

In  the  changing  seasons  we  see  our  own  lives 
portrayed.  They  are  nature's  mirror  which  .con 
stantly  reminds  us  of  passing  life,  and,  recognized 
or  unrecognized,  it  is  by  them  that  we  are  influenced 
to  show  and  do  the  good. 

The  blooming  spring  has  influences  which  lead  to 
deeds  of  purity.  Autumn,  the  harvest  time,  per 
suades  men  so  to  live  that  when  waning  manhood 
steals  upon  them,  they  may  reap  the  fruits  of  a 
virtuous  existence.  Old  winter,  with  clouded  skies 
and  drifting  snows,  influences  all  humanity  to  hope 
for  a  spring-time  yet  to  come. 


10  TALKS  OK  NATURE. 

It  is  not  the  strong  and  powerful,  or  the  great 
and  noble  that  exert  the  greatest  influences  over 
men.  Nature's  forces,  the  true  influencers  of  man 
kind,  lie  on  every  side  about  us. 

Bryant  sang  the  songs  of  nature  for  a  life-time. 
Bacon  ever  found  sermons  in  running  brooks,  and 
in  nature,  we  all  find  good  in  everything, 

Such  are  the  influences  that  are  elevating  and 
ennobling  the  ideals  of  men,  and  softening  and  sub 
duing  their  revengeful  natures,  Such  are  the  in 
fluences  that  are  hastening  the  day  when  Virtue  and 
Mercy  ne'er  will  be  at  war,  and  the  only  laws  for 
peace  and  protection  will  be  framed  and  executed 
by  Love  and  Pity. 

Sweet  influences,  then  speed  the  hour, 
When  JUSTICE  triumphs  in  her  power, 

When  TRUTH  and  HONOR  shall  attain, 
A  higher  eminence  than  Fame, 

And  that  which  muses  long  have  sung, 
A  millennium  in  truth  shall  come. 


Mornings  are  glorious.  The  person  who  misses 
the  first  hour,  from  six  to  seven,  loses  the  beauty 
and  the  poetry  of  the  day. 


When  nature  works  in  any  direction  it  counts 
more  than  when  man  works.  When  nature  irri 
gates,  meadows  become  green,  foliage  on  trees 
thickens,  wild  flowers  blossom. 


VENUS.  11 

•p.  Oiten  on  a  clear  evening,  when  you  look  at 

the  western  sky,  you  will  see  a  very  bril 
liant  object.  Many  people  call  this  beautiful  object 
the  evening  star,  but  those  who  have  an  idea  of 
the  difference  in  appearance  of  the  heavenly, bodies, 
their  position  and  movements,  call  the  luminous 
object,  shining  brighter  than  any  other  in  a  canopy 
of  blue,  the  planet  Venus. 

Venus  being  an  inferior  planet,  that  is,  her  path 
around  the  sun  being  within  that  of  the  earth's 
path,  is  never  seen  high  in  the  heavens,  but  near 
the  horizon,  just  after  sunset  at  night,  or,  when 
she  is  in  the  opposite  part  of  her  orbit,  just  above 
the  horizon,  shortly  before  sunrise  in  the  morning. 

Ancient  astronomers  being  ignorant  of  the  earth's 
revolution  upon  its  axis,  supposed  the  brilliant  star 
that  they  saw  in  the  morning,  to  be  a  different  star 
from  the  one  that  they  had  seen  only  a  short  time 
before  in  the  evening,  so  they  unknowingly  gave 
Venus  two  names. 

Hespersus,  the  night,  was  her  name  when  an  even 
ing  star,  and  Lucifer,  the  morning,  wrhen  a  morning 
star.  Modern  astronomers,  knowing  the  mistake 
of  the  ancients,  discarded  both  names  and  appro 
priately  applied  to  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the 
planets  the  name,  Venus,  meaning  in  the  Pagan 
mythology  and  religion,  the  goddess  of  beauty,  and, 
on  account  of  her  brilliancy,  they  gave  her  the  sign 
which  is  supposed  to  represent  a  mirror  with  a 
handle  at  the  bottom. 


12  TALKS  ON  NATURE. 

To  a  careful  observer,  Venus  presents  the  same 
phases  as  the  moon.  Her  light  is  first  seen  as  a  pale 
crescent,  which  gradually  as  she  proceeds  in  her 
orbit,  spreads  across  the  disk,  till  finally  her  whole 
surface  is  illuminated.  She  then  commences  to 
wane  till  she  has  completed  about  one-half  her  or 
bit,  when  she  is  not  visible. 

Any  person  can  compute  the  distance  of  Venus 
from  the  sun  by  means  of  Keepler's  third  law.  Ac 
cording  to  this  law,  the  distance  of  Venus  from  the 
sun  is  seven-tenths  the  distance  of  the  earth  from 
that  body,  hence  to  a  person  on  Venus,  the  sun 
would  appear  one-half  times  larger  than  to  us. 

As  Venus  and  Mercury  are  the  only  two  inferior 
planets,  only  transits  of  Venus  and  Mercury  can  oc 
cur,  and  as  Mercury  is  smaller  than  Venus,  and 
nearer  the  sun,  the  transits  of  Mercury  are  of  less 
importance  than  those  of  Venus. 

The  transits  of  Venus  are  of  great  importance,  be 
cause  they  afford  a  means  of  determining  the  dif 
ference  between  the  sun's  real  and  apparent  alti 
tude,  and  by  means  of  this  difference,  which  is 
termed  the  solar  parallax,  the  earth's  distance  from 
the  sun  is  computed.  The  last  transit  of  Venus  oc 
curred  December  6th,  1882,  and  the  next  will  occur 
on  June  7th,  2004,  a  hundred  twenty-one  years,  six 
months,  and  one  day  from  the  last. 

Although  telescopic  observation  of  Venus  is  ren 
dered  somewhat  difficult  on  account  of  the  intense 
brilliancy  of  her  light,  which  dazzles  the  eye  and 
augments  the  imperfections  of  the  instrument,  still 


VENUS.  13 

observations  correct  enough  to  be  conclusive  have 
been  made,  showing  that  Venus  is  surrounded  by 
an  atmosphere  of  considerable  height  and  density. 

According  to  observations  made  by  Schroeter, 
there  are  mountains  on  the  planet  of  immense 
height.  It  is  said  that  the  elevation  of  the  highest 
is  equal  to  one  one-hundred-and-fortieth  of  the 
planet's  radius,  which  would  be  twenty-seven  miles, 
or  more  than  five  times  the  height  of  Mount  Ever 
est,  the  highest  peak  of  our  earth. 

If  it  be  true  that  clouds  have  been  observed  float 
ing  across  the  disk  of  Venus,  as  has  been  observed 
on  the  disk  of  Mars,  then  we  may  conclude  that 
Venus  has  both  air  and  water,  and  consequently, 
might  be  inhabited  by  a  race  similar  to  the  inhab 
itants  of  the  earth. 

At  the  present  time,  astronomers  are  almost  as 
well  acquainted  with  the  surface  of  Venus  as  they 
are  with  the  surface  of  the  moon.  They  are  now 
not  only  able  to  tell  her  distance  from  the  sun,  the 
extent  of  her  orbit,  and  the  length  of  her  years,  but 
they  can  measure  almost  exactly,  her  degrees  of  in 
clination,  the  width  of  her  zones,  and  her  mountain 
peaks. 

What  remains  for  science  to  reveal  in  the  future 
can  only  be  conjectured.  It  seems  quite  improba 
ble  that  in  a  few  years,  people  who  inhabit  Venus,  as 
they  go  about  their  daily  tasks,  will  be  observed  by 
people  of  our  earth,  but  it  certainly  can  be  no  more 
absurd  to  predict  this  at  the  present  time,  in  the 
present  advanced  state  of  science,  than  to  predict. 


14  TALKS  ON  NATURE. 

in  the  days  of  Tycho  Brahe,  that  which  the  telescope 
has  since  revealed. 

Scientists  have  already  completed  those  inven 
tions,  by  means  of  which,  on  rays  of  light,  we  could 
telegraph  our  thoughts  to  lunar  inhabitants,  why, 
then,  shall  we  not  predict  that  at  some  future  day, 
our  morning  papers  will  contain  intelligence  con 
veyed  to  us  from  the  inhabitants  of  this  beautiful 
star. 

*  *  *  *  * 

The  variations  of  the  moon  north  or  south,  in  as 
tronomical  language,  are  termed  librations.  No 
other  heavenly  body  is  so  variable  in  its  movements 
as  the  moon. 


An  eclipse  of  the  sun  is  caused  by  the  moon  pass 
ing  across  the  face  of  the  sun,  and  so  can  only  occur 
at  new  moon.  An  eclipse  of  the  moon  is  caused 
by  the  moon  passing  through  the  earth's  shadow, 
and  so  can  occur  only  at  full  moon. 


The  August  moon  is  often  termed  the  harvest 
moon.  This  is  incorrect.  The  full  moon  which 
occurs  nearest  to  the  time  of  the  Autumnal  Equi 
nox  is  the  harvest  moon.  This  makes  the  full 
moon  of  September  properly  the  harvest  moon. 
It  is  the  time  of  the  harvest  in  England. 


NO  POLAR  SEA.  15 

J*Q  The  favorable  reports,  as  to  the  possi 
bility  of  reaching  the  North  Pole,  may 
Polar  Sea.  wej]  ^e  accepted  with  allowance.  It 
is  worth  noticeing,  that  of  all  the  explorers  to  the 
North,  those  who  have  proclaimed  the  project  feo.s- 
ible  have  been  the  ones  who  abandoned  the  under 
taking  at  the  greatest  distance  from  the  Pole. 

The  only  reason  given  for  the  probable  existence 
of  an  open  polar  sea  is  that,  as  winter  approaches 
at  the  far  north,  migratory  birds  take  their  flight 
in  the  direction  of  the  Pole.  No  one  knows  that 
these  birds  stop  at  the  Pole.  They  might  continue 
their  flight  beyond,  and  enter  warmer  waters  in  the 
other  hemisphere. 

As  far  as  is  known,  nearly  every  condition  of  the 
planet  Mars  is  similar  to  earthly  conditions.  The 
degree  of  inclination  of  any  planet  to  the  plane  of  its 
ecliptic,  determines  the  length  and  severity  of  its  sea 
sons.  The  earth  and  Mars  differ  but  slightly  in  in 
clination.  From  correct  astronomical  observations, 
the  length  of  the  seasons  of  Mars  has  been  as  accu 
rately  defined  as  those  of  the  earth.  With  the  tele 
scope,  during  winter  in  the  northern  hemisphere  on 
Mars,  the  snow  line  is  plainly  seen  to  extend  itself 
southward,  and  during  summer  in  that  hemisphere, 
the  snow  line  is  seen  to  retreat  toward  the  North 
Pole,  and  finally  settle  and  remain  a  distinct  white 
belt  of  snow  about  the  Pole. 

The  condition  of  the  ftorth  Pole  of  Mars  is  no 
doubt  the  condition  of  the  North  Pole  of  the  earth. 


16  TALKS  ON  NATURE. 

Had  the  expedition  of  the  great  Parisian  balloon, 
launched  from  the  north  of  Europe  with  the  ex 
pectancy  of  reaching  the  Pole,  been  successful,  it 
would  have  settled  on  a  snow  bank  rather  than  in 
an  open  sea.  An  open  Polar  Sea  is  not  probable. 


The  French  define  a  passion  as  a  whim  impeded 
in  execution.  Had  the  Creator  placed  the  barren 
regions  of  the  Pole  in  easy  reach  of  man,  no  doubt 
they  wrould  have  been  ignored. 


At  each  successive  eclipse  of  the  sun,  more  is 
learned  about  the  sun7s  envelope,  which  is  known 
as  the  corona,  and  which  extends  away  from  the 
surface  of  the  sun  for  five  or  six  million  miles  in  all 
directions.  When  the  sun  is  completely  covered  by 
the  disk  of  the  moon,  the  corona  becomes  visible, 
even  to  the  naked  eye.  The  corona  is  undoubtedly 
a  gas  different  in  its  properties  from  any  gas  com 
mon  to  the  earth. 


In  the  mineral,  vegetable,  and  animal  kingdoms, 
the  Creator  has  wisely  provided  the  things  most 
necessary  to  man's  existence,  the  most  plentiful. 
Iron  and  copper,  metals  most  useful  to  man,  are 
most  common.  Man  sets  a  high  price  on  gold  be 
cause  'it  is  a  metal  rare.  That  man  risks  life,  and 
endures  great  hardships  in  Arctic  regions  in  quest 
of  gold,  is  to  sustain  conditions  created  by  man 
and  never  intended  by  the  Creator. 


ELECTRICITY.  17 

£>1  People  arriving  in  mountainous  sec 

tions  from  the  lower  levels,  are  sur- 

tncirp.  prised  at  the  electrical  displays  so  com 
mon  to  high  altitudes.  The  moving  of  the  comb 
through  the  hair,  the  shuffling  of  the  feet  across  the 
carpet,  the  rapid  brushing  of  the  fingers  across  the 
clothing  are  sufficient  to  generate  electric  sparks. 
The  higher  one  climbs,  the  more  common  are  these 
electrical  phenomena,  and  many  wonder  at  the 
cause. 

Electricity  is  an  invisible  fluid  existing  to  a 
greater  or  a  less  degree  on  the  surface  of  most  sub 
stances.  Electricity  is  composed  of  two  entirely 
dissimilar  constituents.  As  long  as  these  two  con 
stituents  composing  electricity  are  evenly  balanced, 
the  electricity  never  displays  itself,  but  by  friction 
they  are  separated,  and  as  soon  as  separated,  it  is 
their  nature  to  again  come  together  and  as  quickly 
as  possible.  The  rapid  coming  together  of  these 
two  dissimilar  constituents  is  always  visible  to  the 
eye  in  the  form  of  a  bright  spark,  and  their  striking 
together  is  evident  to  the  ear  also  as  a  sharp 
snap. 

Brushing  the  clothing,  combing  the  hair,  and  the 
like,  separate  the  two  electrical  elements  more  readi 
ly  in  high  altitudes,  because  there  the  pressure  of 
the  atmosphere,  tending  to  hold  together  the  two 
electrical  elements,  is  less. 

When  a  cloud  containing  one  of  the  electrical 
elements,  moves  near  a  cloud  containing  the  other, 


18  TALKS  ON  NATURE, 

the  two  elements  spring  to  join  each  other  through 
the  intervening  space,  and  this  is  termed  lightning. 
Often  a  section  of  the  earth  contains  but  one  of  the 
electric  elements,  and  a  cloud  with  the  opposite  ele 
ment  passing  above,  brings  the  lightning  which  is 
likely  to  strike. 

Wherever  these  electric  elements  swiftly  pass,  they 
push  aside  every  particle  of  the  atmosphere,  and 
form  a  complete  vacuum.  Nature  abhors  a  vacuum, 
and  the  columns  of  air  rush  in  with  great  rapidity 
to  fill  the  vacuum.  When  these  two  columns  of  air 
meet,  they  crack  as  two  boards  might  in  coming 
together.  This  report  is  termed  thunder. 

The  use  of  lightning  rods  is  to  keep  the  two  dis 
similar  electric  elements  constantly  united,  so  that 
there  may  be  no  sudden  joining.  A  lightning  rod 
out  of  repair  allows  the  two  elements  to  accumulate 
until  there  is  sufficient  to  do  damage.  The  rod  at 
length  becomes  a  medium  for  uniting  the  accumu 
lated  elements,  and  so  is  the  cause  of  a,  conflagra 
tion. 

These  theories  of  electricity  have  been  established 
for  years.  They  fulfill  all  conditions.  They  are 
generally  accepted. 


Mectric  lighting,  electric  motors,  and  instanta 
neous  communication  would  be  impossible  without 
nature's  electric  discharges,  known  as  lightning. 

It  is  an  old  idea  that  there  is  no  great  good  with 
out  its  accompanying  evil. 


WINDS.  19 

No  country,  no  locality  is  perfect  in  all 
conditions.  Where  a  land  has  its  ad 
vantages  in  some  directions,  it  also  has  its  disad 
vantages  in  others. 

The  general  public  are  often  like  children.  They 
want  all  days  holidays,  and  they  never  want  to  take 
any  medicine,  unless  the  medicine  is  sweet. 

The  public  reason  but  little  farther  than  that 
winds  are  unpleasant  and  disagreeable,  therefore  a 
windy  locality  is  an  undesirable  locality,  a  locality 
to  be  detested,  avoided. 

Many  sections,  after  weeks  or  months  of  contin 
ued  calms,  get  all  the  wind  which  might  have  come 
through  a  long  period,  in  a  few  moments.  Besides 
the  winds  come  with  a  whirling  or  rotary  move 
ment,  and  with  such  force  as  to  be  destructive  of 
life  and  property. 

The  winds  of  other  localities  are  not  noted  for 
their  fickleness.  They  don't  tear  out  a  hamlet  or 
demolish  a  city  to-day  and  then  disappear.  They 
simply  take  a  reasonable  velocity  that  harms  no 
body,  and,  from  day  to  day,  they  exhibit  a  persever 
ance  that  might  well  be  copied  by  the  faint-hearted 
and  changeable. 

Mountainous  countries  can  never  be  subject  to 
destructive  cyclones,  because  great  ranges  and  peaks 
are  not  favorable  for  the  formation  of  the  funnel- 
shaped,  rotating  wind-currents.  If  by  chance,  on 
some  extended  mountain  plateau,  such  a  current 
*  should  be  produced,  it  would  not  pass  far  in  its 
course,  before  a  mountain  chain,  a  bold  summit 


20  TALKS  ON  NATURE. 

would  destroy  the  whirling  movement  and  the  ter 
rific  force  which  damages  and  destroys. 

There  are  some  things  to  be  said  in  favor  of  winds. 
A  windy  locality  might  be  a  desirable  locality. 
Winds  purify.  Men  and  animals  breathe  out  the 
poisonous  gases.  All  fires,  all  rotting  vegetation 
and  decaying  animal  existence  send  them  out.  Na 
ture's  method  of  purifying  is  to  attach  the  winds, 
and  take  all  the  impurities,  destructive  to  man's 
healthy  existence,  far  out  on  the  great  salt  oceans. 
There,  every  impure  vapor,  every  poisonous  gas  is 
regenerated,  purged,  cleansed. 

The  person  who  would  escape  a  windy  section 
would  escape  a  healthy  section.  In  keeping  dust 
out  of  his  eyes,  he  would  get  disease  germs  in  his 
blood.  In  keeping  on  his  hat,  he  would  lose  his  head. 
In  straining  at  a  gnat,  he  would  swallow  a  camel. 

Before  condemning  winds,  it  is  better  to  learn  a 
few  of  their  uses  and  benefits.  Before  escaping 
winds,  it  is  better  to  learn  if  winds  are  not  what  is 
necessary  to  health  and  comfort.  Before  criticising 
the  Creator's  plans,  it  is  better  to  learn  the  alpha 
bet  of  their  benevolence  and  wisdom. 

The  most  willing  critic,  as  well  as  the  most  unjust 
and  unreasonable  critic,  is  the  ignorant  critic. 

Let  the  winds  blow.     They  bring  us  purity.    They 
bring  us  health.     They  cleanse  us. 
&  &  <§?  &  & 

During  a  high  wind,  the  carbon  gas,  which  animals 
breathe  out,  is  carried  away,  and  the  oxygen  and 
ozone  from  the  great  mountain  tracts  take  its  place. 


SPRING.  21 

^  .  There  are  lessons  to  be  drawn  from 
""  spring.  The  first  is  from  the  manner  in 
which  she  comes.  Spring  ordinarily  does  not  come, 
till  the  people  are  so  tired  and  sick  of  winter,  that 
their  hearts  and  dispositions  are  right  to  receive  her. 
She  waits  till  she  is  positive  that  she  will  be  a  wel 
come  guest.  When  she  arrives,  she  is  a  little  coo] 
and  reserved  at  first.  She  knows  the  public  is  likely 
to  treat  with  disdain,  even  rebuke,  those  who  at 
tempt  to  be  too  intimate  at  the  beginning. 

Spring  warms  up  and  becomes  interesting,  when 
the  public  have  acquired  a  liking  for  her  style  and 
mannerisms,  as  soon  as  she  feels  that  they  are  well 
enough  acquainted  with  her  to  appreciate  her. 

Spring  will  not  endure  rough  or  unkind  treat 
ment.  Let  the  public  begin  to  mop  their  brows, 
and  declare  how  hot  it  is,  and  how-  devoid  the  air 
is  of  ozone,  and  how  glad  they  would  be  to  see  a 
little  of  old  winter  once  more,  and  she  will  go  up 
in  the  passes  of  the  mountains,  generate  a  wave  of 
sleet  and  hail  and  snow,  and  sweep  it  down  the  val 
leys,  along  the  plains,  across  the  continent,  and  for 
miles  through  the  shipping  out  on  the  ocean.  In 
order  for  Spring  to  remain  appreciated,  it  seems  to 
be  necessary  for  her  to  repeat  this  chastisement 
several  times  during  her  stay. 

Spring  understands  humanity.  She  knows  the 
extreme  fickleness  of  men  and  women.  She  seems 
to  realize  that  if  she  hopes  to  please  them,  she  must 
have  a  new  gown  every  two  weeks.  She  pleases 
them.  She  adorns  both  with  birds  and  flowers.  She 


22  TALKS  ON  NATURE. 

starts  in  with  blue  birds  and  robbins,  arid  winds  up 
with  orioles  and  finches.  At  first  she  decks  herself 
with  silver-leaf  and  hearts-ease  and  adder-tongue 
and  anemones,  then  with  apple  and  peach  blossoms 
and  lilacs  and  snow  balls.  Last  she  arrays  herself  in 
deep  green  foliage  with  crimson  roses  and  pure 
white  lilies. 

She  never  lingers,  but  makes  a  quick  bow  and  is 
gone.  Next  time  she  is  all  the  more  welcome  for 
the  lessons  she  taught  on  her  previous  visit. 


Summer  begins  the  twentieth  of  June.  The 
longest  day  of  the  season  in  this  zone  is  but  four 
teen  hours  and  twenty  minutes.  The  sun  then 
looks  in  at  the  north  window  at  half  past  four  in 
the  morning.  If  you  rise  with  the  sun  you  get  start 
ed  early.  Tf  you  work  only  as  long  as  the  sun  shines 
you  put  in  a  big  day's  work. 


Rest  is  necessary  to  life,  both  vegetable  and  ani 
mal.  Spring  is  more  appreciated  than  the  other 
seasons,  because  it  is  the  season  of  awakening  after 
the  long  rest  of  winter.  Spring  is  to  the  year  what 
morning  is  to  the  day.  In  spring,  plant  and  animal 
life  is  invigorated,  refreshed,  renewed.  Nature 
smiles  in  spring-time  because  her  creatures  are  joy 
ous. 


ARBOR  DAY.  23 

Arbor  day  is  becoming  one  of  the  most 
UTbor     popular  holidays  celebrated  in  the  United 


States,  It  is  one  of  the  most  sensible, 
one  of  the  most  beneficial. 

Among  all  the  trees  being  planted,  many  are  set 
by  unskilled  hands.  Not  a  majority  of  those  plant 
ed  live,  unless  special  attention  is  given  to  their 
setting  and  their  care.  It  may  be  weM  to  note  the 
following.  A  tree  will  die  if  set  either  on  a  rock  or 
in  the  water.  Many  trees  are  killed,  because,  in 
covering  the  roots,  the  soil  is  banked  too  high.  If 
the  soil  covers  a  portion  of  the  natural  bark  of  the 
stem,  it  soon  rots  the  bark,  and  the  tree  is  practically 
girdled.  Young  trees  require  constant  care  and 
attention. 

An  old  Scotchman  said,  "When  you've  nothing 
else  to  do,  be  sticking  in  a  tree,  'twill  be  growing 
while  you're  sleeping,  " 


One  of  the  most  pleasing  features  of  the  growth 
of  trees  is  the  numerous  song  birds  attracted  by 
the  shade,  and  the  opportunity  offered  for  nesting. 
Birds  with  their  cheerful  music  make  mornings 
agreeable.  _ 

Ozone  is  only  another  form  of  oxygen.  Ozone  is 
an  active  state  of  oxygen,  and  is  most  prevalent  in 
regions  sparsely  inhabited,  in  mountain  regions 
covered  with  dense  vevetable  growths,  especially 
that  of  pine. 


24  TALKS  ON  NATURE, 

There  is  no  occupation  more  civilizing 
ancj  ermob]ing  than  the  cultivation  of 
Flowers,     flowers.    People  who  cultivate  flowers 
are  kinder  people,  better  people,  owing  to  their  love 
and  admiration  of  the  beautiful. 

It  is  said  that  flowers  grow  for  those  who  love  them. 
They  who  love  flowers,  love  the  most  delicate  of  all 
God's  handiwork.  They  who  cultivate  flowers,  at 
the  same  time  cultivate  the  purest  and  best  part  of 
their  own  nature.  Teach  a  child  to  love  and  to  cul 
tivate  flowers,  and  there  is  implanted  in  its  heart, 
that  which  will  develop  to  make  it  kind,  loving, 
sympathetic,  and  generous.  Plant  flowers.  Culti 
vate  flowers.  Love  flowers. 


The  language  of  flowers  is  expressive.  No  gift 
tells  so  plainly  the  heart's  estimate  as  a  gift  of 
flowers.  • 

Roses  are  attractive,  but  then  we  enjoy  lilies, 
pinks,  sweet  peas,  and  the  old  fashioned  hollyhocks. 
Beautiful  objects  for  the  eye,  sweet  sounds  for  the 
en-r,  good  things  for  the  palate,  all  that  character 
izes  America. 

In  many  states  of  the  Union,  when  the  choice  of 
state  flower  has  been  left  to  the  vote  of  the  pupils 
of  the  public  schools,  a  flower,  a  native  of  America, 
has  been  chosen.  It  is  natural,  that  those  to  whom 
America  is  clear,  should  love  best  the  flowers  which 
are  truly  American. 


AUTUMN  WOODS.  25 


Aufainn  Woods. 


Looming  up  from  out  the  mist 

Of  the  smoky  atmosphere, 
Like  an  army  fast  approaching, 

Bearing  flags  in  front  and  rear, 
Autumn  woods  by  nature  painted, 

With  her  colors  rare  and  old, 
Like  the  paintings  in  cathedrals, 

Hung  in  frames  inlaid  with  gold. 
Beech  and  maple  draped  in  yellow, 

Birch  and  shumac  decked  in  red, 
Glowing  in  the  mellow  sunshine 

Of  an  autumn  day  near  sped. 

Oaks  that  Red  men  held  as  sacred 

To  their  great  King  Manito, 
Underneath  which  fires  were  kindled. 

That  he  might  appease  their  woe, 
When  in  suffering  or  in  sorrow, 

They  were  bowed  with  hearts  contrite, 
Now  stand  motionless  as  statues, 

In  their  loose-flung  robes  of  white. 
Like  an  old  man  sadly  musing, 

Grieving  at  his  locks  so  gray, 
So  the  old  oaks  seem  to  sorrow, 

Brushing  leaves  for  tears  away. 


TALKS  ON  NATURE. 

Sailing,  turning,  dropping  slowly, 

Settling  nearer,  closer  down, 
Fall  the  leaves  from  elm  and  chestnut, 

Tinted  and  o'er- flecked  with  brown. 
All  the  woods  have  for  a  carpet, 

Fallen  leaves  now  dry  and  sear, 
And  their  rustle,  like  weird  anthems, 

Falls  so  sadly  on  the  ear, 
That  if  seasons  have  their  dirges, 

Played  and  sung  at  autumn's  close, 
Rustling  leaves  must  be  the  music, 

That  announce  their  long  repose. 

The  sun  o'er  western  hill-tops, 

Floods  the  woodland  with  its  light, 
Now  sinking  like  a  ball  of  fire, 

The  earth  is  clothed  in  night, 
But  soon  o'er  eastern  mountains, 

The  hunter's  moon  looks  dowu, 
The  silvery  light  falls  checkered, 

Through  the  oak  leaves  on  the  ground, 
And  breezes  as  they  lightly  pass, 

Whisper  through  the  sighing  trees, 
"Halloween  fast  speeding  autumn, 

Benedictions  on  the  leaves." 


'Autumn  Woods  by  Nature  Painted. 


28  FAKM  TALKS. 


FARM  TALKS. 


The  basis  of  every  occupation  is  agri- 
of  culture.  The  prosperity  of  every  pro- 

fessi0n  hinges  upon  the  prosperity  of 
the  farmer.  A  book  written  for  all  classes,  and  that 
contains  no  helpful  suggestions  to  farmers,  is  in 
complete  in  its  purpose. 

Farmers  are  not  an  exceptional  class.  Like  peo 
ple  of  other  occupations  farmers  make  mistakes. 

They  say  no  man  is  a  just  or  a  fit  critic  for  his 
own  profession.  Prejudice  blinds  the  reason  of  the 
lawyer  who  criticises  pleaders  at  the  bar,  of  the 
physician  who  criticises  the  medical  fraternity,  of 
the  minister  who  criticises  the  clergy.  Why  should 
it  not  deflect  the  judgment  of  the  farmer  who  at 
tempts  to  point  out  the  mistakes  of  farmers? 

They  are  our  friends  who  tell  us  of  our  faults, 
and  they  should  be  especially  dear  to  us,  that  not 
only  tell  us  of  our  faults,  but  suggest  to  us  the 
remedies  whereby  our  mistakes,  through  the  school 
of  experience,  may  prove  our  blessings. 

No  one  improves  without  making  mistakes,  and 
no  one  improves  without  stopping  to  consider  his 
mistakes.  Walking  is  a  continual  falling.  The 


MISTAKES  OF  FARMERS.  29 

beginning  of  every  step  is  a  giving  away  to  the 
force  of  gravity,  and  the  end  of  every  step  is  a 
catching  of  one's  self  in  opposition  to  that  force. 
Without  the  catching  process  in  walking,  a  man 
goes  to  the  ground.  Both  the  start  at  the  begin 
ning,  and  the  stop  at  the  end,  require  effort.  And 
so  the  start  toward  our  mistakes,  and  the  reforma 
tion  after,  require  effort.  But  since  it  is  a  law  of 
nature,  that  we  shall  learn  from  experience,  mis 
takes  are  necessary  to  our  success,  and  failures  are 
necessary  to  our  success,  and  a  man's  hindrances 
and  failures  determine  to  a  great  extent,  his  achieve 
ments  and  successes. 

The  curse  of  the  American  farmer  to-day,  is  his 
debts.  More  than  one-half  the  farms  of  America 
are  encumbered  with  mortgages,  ranging  from  one- 
half  to  three-fourths  of  their  value,  and  the  man  who 
owns  the  mortgage  is  the  man  who  receives  the  in 
come  of  the  farm,  and  the  farmer  who  holds  the 
deed  gets  his  board  and  clothes  for  his  services. 

The  farmer  may  go  on,  laboring  under  the  delusion 
that  because  the  title  is  in  his  own  name,  some  day 
he  will  lift  the  mortgage.  He  and  his  family  are 
little  better  than  tenants.  The  second  generation 
inherits  a  mortgage,  and.  takes  up  the  burden 
where  the  first  leaves  off,  and  so,  from  generation 
to  generation,  the  mortgage  is  handed  down,  and 
any  offspring  that  touches  the  old  homestead,  is 
doomed  to  a  life  of  servitude  to  the  capitalist. 

We  know  of  the  vacant  farms  throughout  the 
nation.  The  boys  have  grown  weary  of  an  inheri- 


30  FARM  TALKS. 

tance  of  an  ancestral  mortgage,  and  the  capitalist 
is  looking  for  a  tenant  industrious  enough,  besides 
making  a  living,  to  pay  him  the  interest  on  the 
mortgage. 

Various  causes  have  brought  about  the  bad  finan 
cial  condition  of  so  many  farmers.  The  early  set 
tlers  of  the  United  States  were  honest,  industrious, 
frugal  pioneers.  They  cleared  their  lands,  paid  for 
their  farms,  and  improved  their  surroundings  grad 
ually  as  their  farms  developed.  Though  the  pro 
cess  of  improvement  was  slow,  there  being  no  out 
lay  till  the  farm  yielded  the  necessary  funds,  it  was 
natural. 

As  a  country  grows  old,  its  inhabitants  acquire 
expensive  tastes  and  habits  of  luxury.  Some  say  it 
will  not  do  to  argue  against  these,  for  they  are  in 
dications  of  culture  and  of  a  higher  state  of  civiliza 
tion.  It  would  be  difficult  to  prove  that  statement. 
The  great  works  of  art.  the  great  literary  produc 
tions,  the  great  inventions,  the  greatest  achieve 
ments  in  all  ages,  have  been  produced  among  com 
paratively  bare  surroundings,  When  people  pander 
to  the  appetite,  delighting  in  luxuries  for  the  palate, 
eye,  and  ear,  they  cater  to  the  physical  and  retard 
their  best  accomplishment.  They  are  forming  the 
habit  of  spending,  not  of  saving,  and  in  this  world, 
force  of  habit  is  everything,  for,  a  road  that  one 
enters  upon  in  youth,  he  follows  to  old  age.  After 
a  man  has  become  accustomed  to  driving  an  expens 
ive  turnout,  he  rarely  returns  to  a  cheaper  convey 
ance,  even  if  he  can  illy  afford  the  more  expensive. 


MISTAKES  OF  FARMERS.  31 

After  one  suit  of  imported  goods,  Worcester  wool 
ens,  even  if  they  keep  out  the  cold  as  well,  hardly 
give  the  satisfaction  to  one's  pride  which  the  Paris 
and  London  cloths  afford.  "Pride  costs  us  more 
than  hunger,  thirst,  and  cold/' 

The  heavily  mortgaged  home  of  the  farmer  is 
often  most  luxurious.  While  tapestry  carpets,  and 
Turkish  rugs,  and  oil  paintings,  and  ancient  pottery, 
and  antique  oak  are  good  in  a  home,  if  paid  for  the 
day  of  purchase,  it  is  well  for  the  farmer  to  remem 
ber,  that  interest  eats  while  the  household  sleeps, 
and,  as  sooner  or  later,  accidents  and  sickness  and 
misfortune  must  come,  a  bank  account  is  a  greater 
friend  in  the  day  of  adversity  than  expensive  house 
furnishings.  The  American  farmer  must  learn  and 
practice  economy. 

The  American  farmer  must  put  mind  as  well  as 
muscle  into  his  business.  The  changes  in  the  mode 
of  living,  occasioned  by  the  inventions  of  the  age, 
and  the  advance  in  civilization,  make  the  raising  of 
new  products  imperative.  Farmers  of  the  old  set 
tled  sections  of  the  nation  must  stop  producing  the 
crops  raised  by  their  grandfathers. 

Eastern  lands  have  been  producing  corn,  wheat, 
and  oats,  for  a  century,  and  now  would  do  better 
with  other  products. 

Farmers  should  study  the  demands  of  the  times, 
and  produce  that  for  which  there  is  a  market.  This 
has  been  done  by  some  farmers  in  a  few  localities, 
and  the  results  should  be  grand  object  lessons  for 
all  farmers. 


32  FAKM  TALKS, 

A  Bay  state  farmer,  with  a  rough  farm  and  a 
small  dairy,  when  he  saw  the  Illinois  creamery  but 
ter  out-selling  his  own  in  the  New  York  market, 
learning  that  there  was  a  great  demand  for  brook 
trout  in  the  same  market,  stocked  a  brook  in  his 
cow  pasture  with  speckled  trout.  To-day  he  is  a 
wealthy  man,  and  his  fish  hatcheries  are  noted,  and 
he  thanks  the  development  of  the  Illinois  butter 
interests  for  his  success.  Another  Bay  state  dairy 
man  began  making  valuable  maple  sugar  by  the 
evaporating,  air-tight  process,  and  now  his  financial 
condition  is  such  that  he  doesn't  lie  awake  nights 
worrying  about  the  competition  of  Illinois  products. 
A  few  farmers  in  western  New  York  have  acquired 
a  competence  in  two  or  three  years  by  raising  pep 
permint,  the  oil  finding  a  quick  sale  at  from  two  to 
three  dollars  per  gallon  in  any  market. 

In  northern  New  York,  lives  a  farmer  whose 
father  raised  oats  and  corn  all  his  life,  living  from 
hand  to  mouth,  and  managing  with  difficulty  to 
feed  and  clothe  his  family  and  pay  his  taxes.  A  few 
years  ago,  with  much  opposition  from  the  family 
and  no  little  ridicule  from  the  neighbors,  the  son 
planted  eight  acres  of  grapes.  The  first  full  crop 
matured,  and  the  son  sold  it  on  the  vines  for  one 
thousand  dollars  per  acre,  taking  eight  thousand 
dollars  for  the  one  crop  of  grapes,  more  money  than 
the  entire  family,  from  the  grandfather  to  the 
youngest  son,  had  ever  possessed.  Since  a  majority 
of  the  farms  of  that  county  will  produce  as  good 
grapes  as  that  eight  acres,  and  since  three-fourths 


MISTAKES  OF  FARMERS.  33 

of  the  farms  of  that  county  are  heavily  mortgaged, 
it  is  a  mystery  to  thinking  men,  why  farmers  there 
don't  go  to  raising  grapes  and  pay  their  debts. 

The  farmers  of  a  small  section  of  central  £sew 
York,  twenty-five  years  ago,  began  the  culture  of 
grapes,  and  now  the  Keuka  Lake  region  is  noted  as 
the  France  of  America. 

Fifty  years  ago,  the  Genesee  valley  produced 
more  wheat  than  any  section  of  its  area  on  this 
continent.  At  that  time  Rochester  was  known  as 
the  "Flour  city,"  and  the  wheat  lands  of  Monroe 
and  Livingston  counties  were  world  renowned. 
When  the  great  wheat  sections  of  Minnesota  and 
Dakota  were  opened  up,  and  began  to  flood  the 
eastern  and  foreign  markets  with  an  excellent  qual 
ity  of  wheat,  and  cheaper  than  it  could  be  produced 
in  the  Genesee  valley,  the  Genesee  farmers  put 
thought  into  their  business,  and  began  to  look  for 
a  product  they  might  grow  instead  of  wheat.  At 
that  time,  white  beans  were  grown  mostly  in  hilly, 
barren  sections,  and  found  a  ready  market  at  three 
dollars  per  bushel.  The  white  and  kidney  beans 
were  admirably  adapted  for  the  Genesee -country, 
and  the  farmers  throughout  a  portion  of  that  sec 
tion  began  to  produce  them,  clearing  from  fifty  to 
seventy-five  dollars  per  acre  each  year.  But  farm 
ers  there,  who  went  into  the  nursery  and  seed  busi 
ness,  did  even  better,  and  to-day  Rochester  is  still 
the  F-1-o-w-e-r  city,  and  the  nursery  interests  of 
Rochester  are  the  largest  and  most  profitable  of 
any  in  the  world,  and  the  people  of  that  section 


34  FARM  TALKS. 

again  have  the  development  of  the  west,  which 
drove  the  farmers  out  of  the  wheat  business,  to 
thank  for  it. 

Thus  farmers  must  put  thought  arid  intelligence 
into  their  business,  and  produce  the  products  for 
which  there  is  a  market  It  is  the  error  of  the  day 
to  think  that  all  the  brains  are  required  in  the 
other  occupations,  and  that  a  man  who  can't  do 
anything  else,  can  farm  it. 

So,  as  remedies  to  some  of  the  more  evident  mis 
takes  of  American  farmers,  it  is  right  to  suggest  that 
farmers  practice  economy,  living  within  their 
means,  and  thus  bequeath  to  posterity  a  nobler  lega 
cy  than  a  mortgaged  farm.  That  farmers  farm  it  in 
telligently,  using  the  head  as  well  as  the  hands. 
Above  all,  let  farmers  remember,  that  there  is  no 
occupation,  which,  if  properly  pursued,  requires 
more  genuine  judgment,  sound  common  sense,  and 
education  of  the  right  kind,  than  farming. 

*  ®  *  &  * 

Many  of  America's  great  men  were  born  and 
reared  on  the  farm.  Farm  life  is  a  school  of  object 
lessons.  It  is  a  school  of  science. 


The  usefulness  of  the  mind  is  measured  by  the 
healthfulness  of  the  body.  Children  reared  on  the 
farm  have  often  developed  into  men  and  women  of 
mental  capacity,  because  farm  life  is  best  for  the 
laving  of  the  foundation  of  bodily  vigor. 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION,  35 

g*    *         ...    It  should  be  a  matter  of  pride  to  some 
J  states  of  the  Union,  that  their  best  and 


most  important  institutions  of  learn 
ing  are  agricultural  and  industrial  schools.  No 
doubt  one  of  the  great  causes  of  financial  distress 
is  the  fact,  that  agriculture  does  not  hold  the  ex 
alted  place  in  the  estimation  of  this  generation, 
which  it  has  held  in  the  estimation  of  former  gen 
erations.  Every  great  and  prosperous  nation  has 
been  a  nation  that  placed  a  high  estimate  on  agri 
culture. 

In  many  localities  of  the  United  States,  the  far 
mer  educates  his  children  against  his  own  and  their 
best  interests.  A  common,  union  school,  or  indus 
trial  education  has  now  become  entirely  inadequate 
for  the  desires  of  many  farmers'  boys  and  girls. 
They  aim  for  a  higher  education,  not  that  they  may 
come  back  and  utilize  their  intelligence  to  improve 
and  prosper  the  old  homestead,  and  make  more  pro 
ductive  the  scenes  of  their  birth-place,  but  that 
they  may  crowd  into  the  professions,  already  filled 
to  overflowing,  and  acquire  a  living  in  what  they 
consider  a  more  respectable  manner. 

Many  a  farmer's  son,  instead  of  being  reared  with 
the  idea  that  farming  is  a  most  independent  and 
honorable  occupation,  which  requires  intellect,  tact, 
and  skill  to  pursue  successfully,  is  given  the  impress 
ion  that  it  is  a  menial  pursuit,  in  which  he  would 
have  no  opportunities  to  improve  himself  and  make 
better  and  nobler  his  fellow  men.  He  is  taught 
that  if  he  expects  to  benefit  humanity,  he  must  en- 


36  FARM  TALKS. 

ter  the  law,  or  medicine,  or  religion.  Thus  influ 
enced,  the  farmer's  son  turns  his  back  upon  the  farm, 
that  alone  upon  which.  every  other  occupation  de 
pends.  He  wrestles  for  an  existence  with  thousands 
like  himself,  fleeing  from  the  farms,  but  few  of 
whom  know  this  year  what  will  be  their  fate  next. 
The  success  or  failure  of  the  most  of  whom,  hinges 
upon  the  prejudice  or  whim  of  the  fickle  public. 

An  investment  for  the  education  of  the  farmer's 
son  will  never  be  an  economic  investment,  an  in 
vestment  for  the  farm,  .as  long  as  the  education  is 
completed  in  a  business  school,  a  normal  college, 
or  a  theological  seminary.  Because  a  farmer's  son 
exhibits  rare  good  sense,  does  not  indicate  that  the 
father  should  mortgage  his  farm  to  fit  him  to  plead 
law  or  practice  medicine.  Let  the  boy  receive  an 
industrial  education.  This  will  enable  him  to  use 
his  mental  endowment  to  transform  the  ancestral 
acres  into  a  better  and  more  intelligently  tilled 
farm. 

Successful  farmers,  from  the  ancient  Saturn  down 
to  Washington  and  Gladstone,  have  been  men  of 
intelligence  and  mental  calibre.  If  the  public  need 
ed  their  services  in  the  President's  chair  or  the 
English  Parliament,  it  never  has  rejected  them  be 
cause  they  were  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits. 


A  state,  territory,  or  nation  that  plans  to  educate 
its  people  in  agriculture  first,  plans  in  accord  with 
common  sense  and  judgment. 


THE  GEE  AT  WEST.  37 

No  doubt  in  many  respects,  the  East 
has  advantages  over  the  West.  The 
East  boasts  of  culture, of  superior  ed 
ucational  facilities,  of  literary  life  and  artistic  ac 
complishment,  but  yet  littie  developed  in  the  Great 
West. 

The  West  in  turn  has  its  advantages.  Since  that 
which  benefits  the  West  contributes  to  the  greater 
prosperity  of  the  East,  well  informed  easterners, 
eastern  people  who  have  been  West,  laud  the  nat 
ural  advantages  of  the  Great  West. 

With  no  hills  and  rocks,  every  improvement  in 
agricultural  machinery  has  been  an  improvement 
to  the  advantage  of  the  West.  While  the  eastern 
farmer,  in  many  sections,  has  been  obliged  to  rely 
upon  the  old  fashioned  plow  and  harrow,  the  scythe 
and  cradle,  the  western  farmer  mounts  his  sulky  to 
fit  the  sod,  and  the  mower  and  reaper  to  harvest  its 
golden  fruitage. 

The  soil  of  the  East,  weakened  by  harvests  in 
numerable,  has  required  artificial  means  of  enrich 
ment,  the  use  of  expensive  phosphates,  while  the 
West  produces  prolific  yields  of  grain  from  nature's 
fertilizers,  the  decayed  vegetable  growths  of  cen 
turies. 

The  result  has  been  that  the  West  has  had  for  the 
world  fifty  bushels  of  the  finest  quality  of  grain,  for 
every  ten  bushels  furnished  by  the  East,  and  at  no 
greater  expense. 

There  is  almost  no  advantage  of  location  to  mar 
ket  for  the  eastern  farmer,  as,  before  God  ever 


38  FARM  TALKS. 

opened  this  continent  for  the  settlement  of  man,  He 
provided  for  the  easy  exportation  of  the  harvests 
of  the  West,  by  shattering  a  mountain,  the  Thou 
sand  Islands  of  to-day,  and  extending  the  commer 
cial  highways  of  the  Atlantic  inland  for  two  thou 
sand  miles.  When  a  vessel  is  loaded  for  the  Liver 
pool  market,  what  is  the  difference  in  expense  in 
steaming  her  from  Duluth  and  Chicago,  or  from 
Boston  ? 

If  nature  did  not  do  enough  for  the  commercial 
advantage  of  the  West,  surely,  New  York  state  did, 
for  in  1825,  at  an  expense  of  eight  million  dollars, 
she  completed  an  artificial  water-way  from  Lake 
Erie  to  the  Hudson,  placing  the  western  farmer's 
products  in  the  New  York  markets  by  the  side  of 
eastern  products.  In  1879,  New  York  farmers, 
by  their  own  ballots,  presented  the  use  of  this  great 
water-way  to  the  westerners  free  of  all  expense, 
and  ever  since  have  kept  it  in  repair  for  them. 

Western  farmers  now  have  a  choice  of  routes 
to  the  Liverpool  and  London  markets.  If  Cana 
dians  tax  their  ocean  steamers  in  the  Welland 
canal  and  the  St.  La.wrence  River,  they  float  their 
granaries  from  Buffalo  to  New  York  by  the  Erie 
canal. 

Thus  both  by  natural  advantages,  and  through 
commercial  facilities,  the  Great  West  is  the  most 
favored  of  all  sections  for  agriculture.  Thus  the 
Great  West  becomes  the  garden  of  the  American 
continent,  the  source  of  food  supplies  for  the  nations 
of  the  world. 


THE  PLAZA.  39 

—,  On  summer  evenings,  Mexican  farmers 
from  miles  around,  gather  on  the  plaza, 
Plaza,  t^  public  square  which  occupies  the  cen 
ter  of  all  Mexican  villages.  Here  they  recount  the 
experiences  of  the  day,  tell  stories,  and  listen  to  the 
music  furnished  by  the  young  women  and  young 
men  of  the  neighborhood. 

Tourists  who  wish  to  observe  the  quaint  and  the 
peculiar,  so  prevalent  to  Mexican  life,  study  it  from 
the  plaza.  "A  morning  on  the  Plaza"  makes  a 
good  title  for  an  essay,  and  furnishes  reading  of  the 
most  entertaining  character.  Some  of  the  features 
of  such  an  essay  are  Indians,  adobes,  kids,  the  Mex 
ican  dog,  donkeys,  hairless  dogs,  horsemen  from  the 
mountains,  wood  venders,  women  who  smoke.  On 
a  Mexican  plaza  are  sights  possible  to  be  seen  in  no 

other  land. 

&  *  $  &  ® 

Mexicans  devote  the  Sunday  morning  hours  to 
religious  observance.  They  then  congregate  on  the 
plaza  to  listen  to  martial  music,  and  view  the  mili 
tary  parades,  for  which  the  Spanish  are  famous. 


St.  John's  day  is  still  celebrated  in  the  country 
districts  of  Mexico  by  the  game  of  "El  Gallo,'7  the 
rooster.  This  game  consists  in  burying  all  but 
the  head  of  a  rooster  in  the  ground,  and  then  riders 
on  horseback  endeavor  to  pull  it  out  by  catching 
the  head.  The  rider  successful  bears  the  rooster 
to  his  home  as  the  prize  for  which  the  game  is  in 
augurated. 


40  FARM  TALKS, 


There  are  many  strange  customs  in  con- 
for  nection  with  farm  life  in  Mexico. 

Rcrin.  People  are  attracted  by  the  unusual. 
"A  man's  ways  are  right  unto  himself."  The  <ms- 
toms  of  others  are  the  customs  we  take  pleasure  in 
observing. 

The  German  is  amused  by  what  he  terms  the  od 
dities  of  the  French,  and  the  Frenchman  is  enter 
tained  by  what  to  him  are  the  peculiarities  of  the 
German.  Mexicans  view  with  wonder  the  manners 
of  the  American.  The  American  stares  at  the  cus 
toms  of  the  Mexican. 

Americans  pray  for  health,  for  prosperity,  for 
charity,  for  love,  for  mercy,  often,  "For  the  president 
of  these  United  States,  and  the  governor  of  this 
commonwealth."  That  seems  all  right  to  the  Ameri 
can.  Mexicans  pray  for  the  most  of  those  things, 
and  in  addition,  in  a  shrine  set  apart  for  the  pur 
pose,  they  pray  for  rain.  That  seems  all  right 
to  the  Mexican.  Since  the  Americans  have  not  a 
custom  of  praying  for  rain,  at  least  not  in  a  fixed 
place  dedicated  to  that  purpose,  this  Mexican  cus 
tom  entertains  the  American,  hence  this  description. 

Often  for  weeks  and  months,  the  sun  beats  with 
torrid  heat  upon  the  plateaus  of  Mexico,  and,  for 
that  time,  but  little  more  than  a  dew  refreshes  the 
parched  earth.  The  Mexican  who  tills  the  soil,  who 
derives  support  for  his  wife  and  little  ones  from  agri 
culture,  is  disheartened,  driven  almost  to  frenzy. 

A  downpour  of  rain  means  not  only  comforts  to 
those  near  and  dear  to  the  poor  Mexican,  it  means 


PRAYING  FOR  RAIN.  41 

the  necessities  of  life  for  them.  His  trust  in  the 
Divine  Being  is  sincere,  devout.  His  religion  is 
gilded  with  none  of  the  veneering  prevalent  among 
the  polished,  the  elite.  His  worship  is  a  heart  wor 
ship.  He  believes  in  the  Biblo,  the  Bible  of  the  Old 
as  well  as  of  the  New  Testament.  He  believes  in 
the  Bible  as  it  is  written,  not  in  a  Bible  which  re 
quires  a  philosopher  to  explain. 

As  the  sons  of  Adam,  the  sons  of  Abraham,  and 
the  sons  of  Noah  built  alters  in  the  open  air,  and 
worshiped  with  patience  and  with  zeal  to  gain  spe 
cial  favors  when  oppressed  by  impending  evil,  so 
the  Mexican  in  his  calamity  constructs  a  public 
shrine,  and  here  all  the  afflicted  of  the  community 
come  and  devoutly  pray  for  deliverance.  At  such 
a  shrine  they  pray  for  rain. 

Pines  are  cut  on  the  mountains,  and  two  rows 
planted,  forming  an  avenue  leading  to  the  entrance 
of  the  shrine.  All  shrines  in  all  lands  face  the  east. 
The  shrine  of  the  Mexican  opens  toward  the  eastern 
mesas. 

To  construct  this  shrine,  boards  and  planks  are 
sunk  for  a  few  inches  in  the  sandy  soil,  forming  a 
structure  of  three  sides.  This  is  roofed  with  thin 
material,  and  then  all  covered  with  tenting.  The 
interior  is  lined  with  white  cloth,  and  the  ground 
is  carpeted.  Depending  from  the  ceiling  for  some 
distance,  and  dividing  the  shrine  into  inner  and 
outer  sections,  are  two  septums  of  lace.  The  outer 
section  ia  used  by  the  kneeling  worshipers.  The 
inner  section,  which  is  in  plain  view  of  the  outer, 


42  FAftM  TALKS, 

contains   emblems  of  both  the  Old  and  the    New 
Testament. 

The  first  of  the  emblems,  occupying  a  space  at 
the  center  of  the  inner  section,  is  a  wooden  ark 
with  handles,  which  allow  it  to  be  carried  by  two 
men.  This  contains  sacred  relics,  and,  apparently, 
is  similar  in  all  respects  to  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
of  the  Old  Testament.  On  an  elevated  support,  ex 
tending  across  the  rear  and  for  a  short  distance  at 
the  sides  of  this  section,  are  wooden  and  bronze 
statues  of  Christ,  Mary,  and  many  of  the  apostles. 
Lamps  occupy  the  center  of  this  alter.  Candles  oc 
cupy  the  sides.  These  burn  at  night.  The  walls 
are  ornamented  with  portraits  of  Bible  scenes,  of 
Joseph,  the  Madonna  and  child,  of  many  saints. 

At  the  end  of  the  avenue  of  trees  leading  to  ,the 
entrance  of  the  shrine,  and  most  significant  of  its 
purpose,  is  a  large  oaken  cask  containing  water. 

From  miles  around  come  scores  of  worshipers  to 
this  place,  dedicated  for  the  purpose,  and  pray  for 
rain.  All  the  night  long,  the  lights  are  burning, 
and  the  worshipers  do  not  cease  to  come. 

Such  is  the  custom  of  these  people.  Such  is  their 
confidence  in  the  Divine  Being.  Such  is  their  im 
plicit  faith.  May  the  God  who  numbers  the  hairs  of 
the  head,  and  notices  the  sparrow  in  its  fall,  ever  re 
gard  the  earnest  and  fervent  prayer  of  the  troubled 
Mexican,  and  grant  him  rain. 

&  &  %>  %  $ 

Nature  is  the  teacher  on  the  farm  and  her  lessons 
are  moral  inspirations. 


THE  MEXICAN  DOG.  43 

gp.  A  Mexican  dog  is  a  strange  creature.  The 

typical   dog   of   Mexico   is   lean,   lank, 


siender,  fierce,  and  with  teeth  white  as 
Dog.  ivory  and  sharp  as  a  razor.  He  is  always 
hungry,  and  always  ready  to  leave  his  friends,  the 
plodding  donkeys  and  the  driver  of  the  old  weather- 
beaten  lumber  wagon,  and  go  on  a  foraging  expe 
dition  for  a  square  meal.  But  a  square  meal 
doesn't  fill  up  a  Mexican  dog.  Four  square  meals 
for  an  ordinary  dog  still  leaves  the  Mexican  dog 
gaunt  and  thin  and  ravenous. 

An  imported  city  dog  from  the  states,  recently 
arriving,  sometimes  goes  out  and  picks  a  quarrel 
with  one  of  these  Mexican  dogs.  On  the  Mexican 
mesas,  there  are  many  skeletons  of  such  inexperi 
enced  American  dogs,  that  thus  foolishly  obstructed 
the  way  of  the  native  Mexican  breed. 

A  native  Mexican  dog  holds  his  head  low,  his 
nose  nearly  always  resting  upon  the  ground.  He 
spends  none  of  his  superfluous  energies  in  barking, 
in  making  playful  jumps  about  the  donkeys,  in 
running  stray  cats,  or  bounding  friendly  to  exhibit 
affection  for  his  master.  He  keeps  the  centre  of 
the  track  directly  under  the  old  lumber  wagon. 
When  he  goes  from  under  that  wagon,  it  may  be 
relied  upon  that  he  is  on  professional  business  for 
himself.  The  domestic  dog  with  a  bone,  never 
knows  what  struck  him  till  he  has  lost  not  only  his 
bone,  but  a  piece  of  dog  steak  from  his  ribs,  and  a 
dog  cutlet  from  his  flank.  He  is  then  in  too  painful 
a  condition,  in  too  frightened  and  frightful  a  state, 


44  FARM  TALKS. 

to  care  or  know  the  cause  of  his  calamity.  The 
domestic  dog  goes  down  to  his  grave  supposing  a 
cyclone  struck  him.  Passers  who,  from  a  safe  dis 
tance,  watched  the  occurrence,  know  it  was  a  Mex 
ican  dog. 

The  Mexican  dog  never  shows  affection,  never 
exhibits  fear,  never  retreats,  never  whines.  He 
acts  as  quickly  as  he  thinks,  which  is  something 
like  lightning.  He  never  chews  anything,  but 
always  swallows  everything  in  the  form  of  food.  He 
seems  to  like  donkey  flesh  or  dog  flesh  as  well  as 
beef.  It  is  a  strange  thing  but  true,  that  zoology 
gives  no  proper  classification  in  which  the  Mexican 
dog  could  be  placed. 


Another  interesting  species  of  the  dog  common 
to  Mexico  is  the  hairless  dog.  This  dog  is  smaller 
than  the  above  described,  and  the  pure  types  are 
utterly  devoid  of  hair.  They  are  fairly  intelligent, 
affectionate,  and  in  winter  are  found  crouching  in 
sunny  corners. 


For  these  remarks  on  "The  Mexican  Dog' 'no  ex 
cuses,  no  apologies  are  offered.  Before  any  subject  like 
dogs  or  donkeys  is  treated  in  this  volume,  often  days 
or  weeks  of  careful  observation  and  extensive  re 
search  are  devoted  to  it.  Before  these  lines  on  this 
genus  of  the  dog  were  written,  the  animal  had  been 
carefully  studied  for  about  a  year,  but  at  a  distance. 


THE  DONKEY.  45 

The  donkey  is  ever  an  object  of  study. 
The  more  a  close  observer  watches  the 
habits,  disposition,  and  characteristics 
of  the  donkey,  the  more  this  animal  becomes  an 
object  of  admiration,  of  wonderment. 

For  ages  the  mental  capacity  of  the  donkey  has 
been  questioned.  This  has  been  owing  to  the  lack 
of  ability  of  man  to  properly  understand  and  appre 
ciate  him.  Ignorant  men  wrongfully  supposed,  that 
any  animal  which  would  endure  the  impositions 
and  indignities  that  this  animal  undergoes  without 
showing  revenge,  retaliation  of  any  kind,  must  lack 
mental  capacity.  They  set  it  down  at  the  begin 
ning  of  creation  that  the  donkey  was  an  ignoramus, 
and  from  generation  to  generation  throughout  the 
centuries,  through  force  of  habit,  that  opinion  has 
gone  unchallenged,  and  even  to  this  day,  the  word, 
donkey,  is  a  synonym  for  ignorance. 

It  ought  to  be  a  pleasure  for  any  writer  to  wipe 
away  fallacies.  To  take  any  creature,  misused  and 
misrepresented,  and  place  that  creature  in  a  true 
and  accurate  and  honest  light  before  the  world. 

Listen.  The  present  incorrect  estimate  of  the 
donkey  is  owing  to  his  having  lived  in  advance  ctf 
his  age.  The  generousness,  patience,  perseverance, 
and  intelligence  of  the  donkey  were  not  recognized, 
because,  until  recently,  those  have  been  qualities, 
in  the  estimation  of  the  public,  of  but  secondary 
importance. 

The  donkey  has  a  high  and  broad  forehead.  From 
most  ancient  times,  the  degree  of  intelligence  has 


46  FARM  TALKS. 

been  indicated  by  the  height  and  breadth  of  the 
frontal  bone.  The  donkey  has  large  ears.  He  has 
not  a  beautiful  and  pleasing  voice.  The  develop 
ment  of  any  organ  is  commensurate  to  its  use.  The 
donkey  learned  early  the  lesson  which  many  men 
and  most  children  seldom  acquire,  that  true  worth 
is  in  listening,  not  in  being  heard. 

It  is  entertaining  to  observe  the  wisdom  of  the 
Creator  in  his  plans  to  arrange  all  things  for  the 
convenience,  comfort,  and  happiness  of  man.  As 
soon  as  He  created  a  winter,  He  laid  up  quantities 
of  oil  and  coal  to  light  and  heat  it.  As  soon  as  He 
created  continents,  He  devised  winds  and  storms 
and  streams  to  sweep  and  purify  them.  As  soon 
as  He  created  a  mountain,  He  made  a  donkey  for 
man's  convenience  to  ascend  it.  Be  it  the  Alps  or 
Appennines,  the  Himalayas  or  Rockies,  there  is  the 
donkey,  patient,  sure-footed,  and  strong,  ready  for 
the  ascent  when  man  chooses.  Load  him  with  tenting 
and  bedding,  with  bags  and  haversacks,  with  prov 
ender  and  cooking  utensils,  the  donkey  begins  his 
journey  toward  the  clouds  with  apparently  but  a 
single  purpose.  After  hours,  perhaps  days  of  peril 
ous  climbing,  to  at  last  reach  the  summit  and  con 
template  the  grandeur  of  the  universe.  It  is  a 
question  among  scientists,  what  thoughts  pervade 
him,  what  feelings  thrill  him  at  such  a  time.  Gazing 
from  the  top  of  Pilatus,  Pikes  Peak,  or  Mount  Blanc, 
into  blue  mountain  lakes,  across  miles  and  miles  of 
landscape  interwoven  with  stream  of  silver,  along 
range  after  range  of  snowcapped  summits,  it  is  not 


THE  DONKEY.  47 

doubted  but  that  he  is  pervaded  with  sentiments 
sublime. 

The  milkman  of  the  Rockies  makes  his  daily 
rounds,  his  cask  of  milk  securely  strapped  to  his  don 
key,  and  he  serves  his  patrons,  the  mountaineers, 
with  as  great  a  degree  of  regularity  as  does  his  more 
elegantly  equipped  cousin  of  the  city. 

Footsore  and  weary,  the  prospector  hails  the 
mountain  milkman  with  joy,  and  eagerly  draining 
the  cup  of  its  nutritive  contents,  strokes  the  donkey, 
thankful  that  one  animal  exists  with  the  patience 
and  dexterity,  to  reach  him  with  sustenance  in  his 
long  and  perilous  wanderings. 

The  photographer,  his  outfit  on  his  donkey's  back, 
threads  the  brink  of  steep  precipices,  scales  lofty 
peaks,  and  descends  into  deep  ravines,  securing 
views  that  instruct  and  delight  the  world. 

No  animal  holds  a  more  conspicuous  place  in 
history  than  the  donkey.  Columbus,  refused  by 
King  Ferdinand  of  the  means  to  lit  out  the  fleet  for 
his  voyage  of  discovery,  had  reached  a  ravine 
several  miles  from  the  city,  when  he  was  over 
taken  by  the  royal  couriers.  Astride  a  donkey,  he 
received  the  glad  intelligence  that  Queen  Isabella 
had  pledged  her  jewels  for  his  enterprise,  the  en 
terprise  which  resulted  in  opening  a  continent 
rivaling  in  invention,  wealth,  and  magnificence  all 
other  continents  of  the  world,  God  chose  a  donkey 
and  put  human  speech  in  his  mouth  to  reprove 
Balaam,  not  only  for  his  disloyalty  to  his  Creator, 
but  his  inhumanity  to  a  dumb  brute,  and  for  cen- 


TALKS, 

turies  the  cruel  whip  of  the  driver  has  been  stayed 
by  the  example  of  Balaam. 

Christ  himself  on  a  donkey,  her  colt  at  her  side, 
rode  up  to  the  place  from  whence  he  ransomed  the 

world. 

&  &  &  •*  & 

Old  Testament  scenes  are,  for  the  most  part,  farm 
scenes.  A  majority  of  Bible  illustrations  are 
drawn  from  farm  life. 


As  the  world  moves  on,  many  customs  of  Bible 
times  become  obsolete,  but  they  are  none  the  less 
instructive.  Through  the  Bible,  the  primitive  farm 
customs  of  the  past  instil  moral  precepts  to-day. 


The  moral  atmosphere  of  the  farm  is  pure.  The 
intrigue  and  deception,  often  so  common  to  thickly 
populated  localities,  are  unknown  to  the  farm.  All 
people  are  moulded  by  their  surroundings.  Pure 
surroundings  are  inspirations  to  a  pure  life, 


Apples  are  the  fruit  that  predominates  in  the 
markets  in  Autumn.  They  are  the  golden,  luscious, 
harvest  apples,  such  as  were  so  common  on  the  old 
farm.  As  the  seasons  roll,  bringing  one  product 
and  then  another,  so  pictures  of  the  farm  life  of  the 
past  stand  out  in  the  memory.  .Inspirations  that 
come  to  one  on  the  old  homestead  in  youth  are  the 
inspirations  that  cling  longest  in  the  mind  in  after 
years.  Man  made  the  city  but  God  made  the 
country, 


THE  MINISTER  AT  THE  FARM. 


Minister  at 


It  made  me  feel  home-sick  like, 
And  aH  our  folks  looked  glum, 

And  Ma  and  Pa  seemed  circumspect, 
When  the  minister  used  to  come. 

We  were  asked  how  our  souls  might  be. 
And  prayers  were  soon  begun, 

And  sisters  dear,  they  both  would  cry. 
When  the  minister  used  to  come. 

We  had  the  very  best  to  eat, 
But  our  appetites  were  numb, 

For  everything  was  so  solemn-like, 
When  the  minister  used  to  come. 

The  maltese  cat  hid  out  of  sight, 
Old  Tige  wouldn't  sport  and  run, 

The  Jordan  boys  all  stayed  at  home, 
When  the  minister  used  to  come. 

But  when  the  minister's  gig  was  filled, 
With  honey  and  apples  and  meat, 

And  the  minister  had  gone, 
It  wasn't  long  before  we  begun  to  eat. 


60  FARM  TALKS. 

The  maltese  cat  came  out  to  play, 
Tige  leaped  and  sported  free, 

The  Jordan  boys  made  a  friendly  noise. 
And  sisters  both  kissed  me. 

Ma  crooned  to  baby  and  chirped  to  rm\ 

She  gave  us  extra  room, 
And  we  had  a  crack  of  butternuts, 

When  the  minister 'd  gone  off  home, 

Pa  just  sat  and  laughed  and  sung, 
And  whistled  "Old  Zip  Coon/' 

And  all  our  folks  begun  their  jokes, 
When  the  minister'd  gone  off  home- 


'Ma  Crooned  to  Baby  and  Chirped  to  Me.' 


52  TALKS  WITH  CHRONICS 


TALKS  WITH  CHRONICS. 


Of  all  diseases  known   to  the 

^     «  civilized  world,  consumption  is 

Rocto  BBounfam  the  most  baffling?  the  mogt  viru. 

Flateau.         lent>  the  most  fata] 

Up  to  the  present  time,  medical  science  has  abso 
lutely  no  remedy.  Physicians  of  all  nations,  on 
detecting  this  dread  disease  in  any  patient,  know  but 
one  thing  to  advise.  All  counsel  alike,  "Go  to  the 
Rocky  Mountain  Plateau." 

The  average  physician  devotes  his  time  to  study 
and  to  practice,  not  to  travel.  Why  to  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Plateau,  how  long  on  the  Rocky  Moun 
tain  Plateau,  and  the  nature  of  the  life  one  must 
lead  while  there,  are  questions  concerning  which 
both  physician  and  patient  desire  information. 

In  consumption  the  physician  ever  determines 
the  same  conditions,  an  increased  amou  nt  of  moisture 
in  the  lungs,  a  loss  of  lung  tissue  through  watery 
degeneration.  The  beginning  of  the  discharge  of 
sputa  as  the  disease  commences,  its  increase  as  the 
disease  continues,  and  the  final  breaking  down  of 
the  entire  system  when  the  amount  becomes  too 
great  for  its  ready  discharge,  all  later  attest  the 


THE  HOOKY  MOUNTAIN  PLATEAU.  53 

Conditions  disclosed  by  the  physician's  first  analysis. 

When  the  American  consumptive  is  advised  to 
go  to  this  Plateau,  the  meaning  is  that  he  shall 
change  from  an  atmosphere  made  moist  by  the 
evaporation  of  the  Atlantic  or  Pacific,  the  Gulf,  the 
Great  Lakes,  and  streams  and  lakes  innumerable, 
to  an  atmosphere  devoid  of  moisture,  for  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Plateau  is  two  thousand  miles  from  the 
Atlantic,  and  it  is  protected  from  the  evaporation 
of  the  Pacific  by  the  great  Rockies,  over  which,  for 
a  greater  portion  of  the  year,  clouds  do  not  pass  till 
they  have  first  discharged  their  rain,  condensed  by 
these  cold  and  lofty  peaks. 

To  this  high  table-land,  consumptives,  not  only 
from  nearly  all  the  states  of  the  Union,  but  from 
most  civilized  nations  of  the  world  congregate. 
They  reach  the  Plateau,  often  those  in  the  first 
stages  with  only  a  hoarseness  of  the  voice,  indicating 
tuberculosis  of  the  larynx,  often  those  with  a  more 
serious  affection  of  the  lungs,  and  yet  able  to  ride, 
walk,  and  enjoy  life  in  the  open  air.  Often  they  a.re 
brought  by  their  friends  on  a  cot  or  stretcher,  and 
yet  hopeful,  as  a  last  resort,  of  recovery  here. 
Considering  the  number  who  arrive,  and  the  critical 
condition  of  a  large  portion  of  them,  it  is  surprising 
how  few  are  returned  in  the  unpainted  box. 

This  table-land  is  a  dry  and  arid  plain.  It  is  a 
sunny  plain.  Each  year,  over  three  hundred  sunny 
days  are  recorded.  Summer  and  winter,  spring  and 
autumn,  old  Sol  pours  down  his  rays,  seldom  ob 
structed  by  cloud  or  mist. 


51  TALKS  WITH  CHRONICS. 

Batter  now  than  ever  before,  scientists  realize 
that  darkness  and  dampness  generate  sickness,  that 
sunlight  is  death  to  all  disease  germs.  Where  man 
with  his  nostrums,  to  cure  or  to  improve,  fails,  the 
sunlight  with  its  power  to  penetrate,  to  cleanse,  to 
revivify,  comes  to  repair  and  to  heal. 

Years  previous  to  the  permanent  settlement  of  the 
Atlantic  sea-board,  the  Plateau  was  making  history, 
and  here  the  Spaniard  and  the  Spanish  mission, 
long  before  the  Puritan  touched  Plymouth  Bock, 
had  undertaken  the  education  and  civilization  of 
the  savage.  The  success  of  this  work  may  be 
judged,  when  it  is  considered,  that  in  all  the  three 
centuries  of  their  labor,  no  bloody  massacres,  like 
those  which  so  frequently  occurred  at  the  east,  have 
blotted  the  record  of  the  influence  of  the  Spanish 
mission,  and,  whereas,  to-day,  in  all  the  east,  not  a 
single  wild  tribe  survives,  on  the  Rocky  Mountain 
Plateau,  are  numerous  bands,  kind,  industrious, 
frugal,  self-supporting,  in  the  marts  of  trade,  buying 
and  selling,  and  only  in  color  and  language  dis 
tinguished  from  the  ranchers  and  cattlemen  of  the 
region. 

To  the  Mexican,  force  of  habit  is  everything.  As 
his  ancestors  wrought  in  Old  Spain,  with  donkeys 
and  oxen,  carts  and  calashes,  so  he  continued  in  his 
plateau  and  mountain  isolation,  and  not  until  1846, 
when  Kearney's  cannon  shook  the  mud  walls  of  his 
adobe,did  he  realize  that  times  were  changing,  and 
that  the  pulse  of  progress  was  throbbing  in  a  mys 
terious  manner  out  in  the  busy  world.  That  all 


THE  KOOKY  MOUNTAIN  PLATEAU.  55 

this  was  to  effect  him,  however,  never  entered  his 
head  till  in  1876,  when  the  locomotive  went  tearing 
over  his  mesas  and  brought  him  to  a  recognition  of 
the  fact,  that  he  had  become  a  citizen  of  Uncle  Sam's 
free  republic,  with  a  future  and  destiny  before  him. 

With  the  railroad  came  the  Gentile  and  the  Jew  to 
the  Plateau,  and  with  their  arrival  business  "enter 
prises  began  to  assume  definite  proportions.  The 
cities  of  the  Plateau  at  once  became  a  distributing 
point,  and  to-day  wagon  trains,  east  and  south, 
are  supplying  the  articles  of  commerce  to  villages 
at  a  distance  of  hundreds  of  miles.  This  has  built 
up  the  great  wholesale  firms  here,  which  now 
transact  a  larger  business  than  any  similar,  west  of 
the  Mississippi. 

Persons  accustomed  to  the  east,  where  the  pro 
ductiveness  of  any  locality  depends  principally 
upon  the  rainfall  of  that  section,  would  naturally 
doubt  the  possession  of  great  agricultural  facilities 
by  a  plateau  dry  and  arid.  It  is  true  the  fertility 
of  this  Plateau  is  dependent  upon  irrigation,  but 
this,  bv  those  familiar  with  agriculture  under  all 
conditions,  is  considered  one  of  its  chief  advantages. 
Egypt,  Palestine,  and  Persia,  the  most  productive 
lands  of  antiquity,  were  entirely  dependent  upon 
irrigation,  and  the  facilities  of  the  ancients  for 
obtaining  and  distributing  water  were  rude  and 
inconvenient. 

Nature  is  no  respecter  of  times  and  seasons.  If 
the  eastern  farmer's  crops  escape  a  drouth  in  spring, 
they  may  be  ruined  by  a  flood  in  autumn. 


56  TALKS  WITH  CHRONICS. 

The  melting  snows  of  the  Rockies  furnish  an 
exhaustless  source  of  water  for  irrigation,  and  where 
aqueducts  have  been  constructed  to  utilize  this 
supply,  the  dairy,  fruit,  and  grain  interests  of  the 
Plateau  have  developed  in  enormous  proportions, 
for  the  natural  richness  of  the  soil  is  unsurpassed, 
even  by  the  famed  sections  which  produce  the 
giant  fruits  of  the  Pacific  coast. 

As  the  means  for  irrigation  here  have  thus  far 
been  perfected  only  in  a  small  degree,  the  grazing 
industry  has  developed  beyond  all  others.  Owing 
to  the  sunny  winters,  sheep  and  cattle  thrive  on  the 
ranges  during  the  entire  year,  and  the  wool  and  cattle 
interests  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Plateau  are  world 
renowned. 

Throughout  the  entire  region,  from  Wyoming 
and  Utah,  to  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona, 
gold  and  silver  have  been  found,  and  here  to-day, 
gold  and  silver  mines  as  rich  as  any  in  all  the  world, 
are  awaiting  the  intelligence  and  capital  necessary 
for  their  development.  Coal  sufficient  for  motor 
power  and  for  electrical  illumination  is  now  being 
mined.  No  doubt  the  natural  resources  of  the 
Plateau  are  unrivaled  by  any  section  of  the  same 
extent  in  the  nation. 

The  architecture  of  the  American  sections  of  the 
Plateau  is,  for  the  most  part,  modern.  Dwellings  are 
planned  to  receive,  not  to  exclude  the  sunlight. 
It  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  a  residence  here  to  be 
so  constructed,  that  the  sunlight  enters  every  room, 
and,  thanks  to  the  intelligence  inculcated  by  con- 


THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  PLATEAU.  57 

tact  with  disease,  sunlight  is  a  welcome  guest  in 
most  households,  and  is  seldom  obstructed  by  shades 
or  shutters.  In  many  places,  as  at  Manitou  and  at 
Las  Vegas,  are  mineral  springs  whose  waters  are 
most  palatable,  and  for  others  than  consumptives, 
they  are  as  curative  as  those  of  Carlsbad  or  Saratoga. 

Consumptives  on  arriving,  invariably  anticipate 
a  speedy  cure,  and  a  return  to  their  former  locali 
ties  in  the  east  with  a  resumption  of  business  in 
the  old  channels.  They  underestimate  the  fatality 
of  the  disease.  A  system  once  thoroughly  impreg 
nated  with  consumption,  when  again  subjected  to 
the  old  conditions,  is  likely  again  to  succumb  to  the 
old  ravages. 

Often  a  patient  apparently  cured,  and  leaving 
for  the  east,  barely  reaches  his  former  home,  before, 
by  loss  of  voice  and  difficulty  in  breathing,  the 
return  of  the  destroyer  asserts  itself,  and  with  all 
his  intense  desire  for  old  sights,  old  scenes,  and  old 
friends,  he  is  obliged  to  face  about  and  return  to 
the  Eocky  Mountain  Plateau,  for  health  is  dear. 

No  one  need  suppose  that  life  on  the  Plateau  is  an 
isolation.  Churches  are  not  bound  down  to  old 
creeds,  schools  to  old  methods,  or  society  to  old 
customs.  With  a  full  realization  of  the  evils  of  the 
east,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  good,  men  of  mental 
calibre,  who  sought  a  home  here,  have  planned 
and  executed  with  skill  and  intelligence.  In  their 
plans  law  and  order  predominate,  a  regard  for 
sacred  things  has  been  preserved,  woman  holds  an 
honored  position. 


58  TALKS  WITH  CHRONICS. 

Neither  the  citizen  nor  the  tourist  grows  dull 
for  want  of  amusement  here.  Good  horses  for 
riding  or  driving  can  be  obtained  at  the  liveries, 
and  for  mountain  climbing,  herds  of  burros  or 
Mexican  donkeys  are  offered  at  five  dollars  apiece, 
possession  for  life,  or  at  an  absurdly  small  sum  for 
use  by  the  day  or  week.  Perfect  roads  during  the  en 
tire  year  make  bicycling  truly  a  pleasure,  and  mild 
winters  render  tennis,  croquet,  and  golf  games 
even  more  popular  than  in  the  east. 

Some  of  the  best  opera  and  dramatic  troupes  of 
New  York,  Chicago,  and  Boston  often  play  in  the 
larger  cities  of  the  Plateau,  and  lecture  and  concert 
courses  are  maintained  in  true  New  England  style, 
employing  some  of  the  best  talent  in  the  nation. 
With  schools  and  libraries,  clubs  and  societies, 
musical  and  elocutionary  circles,  there  is  no  place 
for  gloom  or  despondency.  A  dissatisfied,  uneasy 
state  of  the  mind,  occasioned  by  lack  of  occupation 
and  amusement,  is  a  condition  above  all  others 
avoided  by  those  who  realize  that  God  made  earth 
as  well  as  heaven,  and  that  he  who  appreciates 
earth  most  will  be  likely  to  enjoy  heaven  best. 

People  here  look  on  the  bright  side,  and  there  is 
no  spot  in  the  world  where  this  is  easier  than  in  a 
land  of  sunshine. 

Colonies  of  nearly  all  nations  exist,  and  the 
Englishman  worshiping  in  the  Episcopal  faith,  or 
the  German  devoutly  following  the  Lutheran  creed 
are  incidents  now  as  common,  as  the  original 
Spaniard  paying  homage  through  his  Catholic 


THE  ROOKY  MOUNTAIN  PLATEAU.  59 

confessor.  To  them  all,  life  here  is  a  pleasure,  a 
cherished  blessing,  and  so  they  learn  to  live  out 
their  years  with  thousands  of  miles  of  land  and 
billow  intervening  between  them  and  the  old 
hearthstone  across  the  sea. 

In  distant  Jesuralem,  anciently,  (rod  established 
a  pool.  An  angel*  it  is  said,  went  down  at  certain 
seasons  into  the  pool  and  troubled  the  water. 
Whoever  then  first  stepped  in  was  made  whole. 

In  America,  the  nineteenth  century  reveals  that 
God  has  established  a  plain.  An  angel,  perpetual 
sunlight  through  all  seasons,  pervades  the  atmos 
phere  of  this  plain.  All,  from  whatever  lands,  who 
migrate  here,  are  preserved  in  health  and  happiness, 

made  whole. 

&  %  $  ®  $ 

The  idea  held  for  so  many  years,  that  a  long 
ocean  voyage  was  beneficial  to  patients  suffering 
with  pulmonary  trouble,  has.  now  been  generally 
discarded.  Sailors  having  contracted  lung  trouble 
on  the  ocean  are  often  cured  on  reaching  high 
altitudes. 

Dry  weather  may  not  be  most  desirable  for  people 
who  are  well,  but  it  is  what  the  invalid  often 
travels  hundreds  or  even  thousands  of  miles  to 
experience.  Many  of  the  most  dangerous  diseases 
are  contracted  in  damp  localities.  Most  consump 
tives  contract  the  disease  near  the  sea  or  lake  coast. 
They  go  to  mountainous  sections  to  escape  damp 
atmosphere,  that  they  may  breathe  dry  air, 


60  TALKS  WITH  CHRONICS. 

The  use  of  excessive  cold  drinks  isgen- 
erajjy  conciemneci  by  scientific  and  me- 

f+*  for.  dical  authority.  It  is  said  to  be  detri- 
v£rironics.  ,  i  •  ,-•  £  i 

mental  in  the  recovery  or  any  having 

pulmonary  troubles.  The  temperature  of  the 
stomach  at  all  times  is  very  high.  The  shock 
caused  to  the  system  by  injecting  water  at  a  low 
temperature  into  this  organ  is  great. 

Health  seekers  will  find  ihat  climate  will  do 
much  for  them,  if  they  are  willing  to  live  in  a 
temperate  manner  and  practice  judicious  laws  of 
hygiene.  No  climate  in  the  world  can  cure  invalids 
who  constantly  violate  important  health  rules. 
Temperance  in  all  things  is  a  virtue.  "Macte  vir- 
tute,"  proceed  in  virtue,  should  be  the  fixed 
motto  of  every  invalid. 


In  hight  altitudes  the  air  is  more  rare.  People 
living  in  high  altitudes,  to  acquire  the  necessary 
air,  are  compelled  to  breathe  deeper  and  longer. 
Thus  the  lungs  are  benefited  by  the  extra  exercise 
in  breathing. 

Physicians  now  understand  symptoms  well,  and 
chronic  diseases  are  nearly  always  detected  with 
in  a  few  days,  or,  at  longest,  in  a  few  weeks  after 
they  commence.  Physicians  know  too,  the  great 
effects  wrought  on  these  diseases  by  a  change  of 
climate.  Honest  doctors  send  their  patients  to  the 
proper  locaties,  in  the  earliest  stages. 


PHILOSOPHY  FOR  CHRONICS.  61 

^1.1  ,  To  throughly  understand  and  appre- 
°S°  •  •  ciate  chronics,  one  must  be  a  chronic, 

p,         .  associate  with  chronics,  and  acquire 

Chronics.  ^e  views  of  life  and  life's  ennuies 
possessed  by  chronics. 

Where  those  in  perfect  health  live  with  great 
hopes,  an  ambition  which  nothing  will  satisfy  short 
of  the  bwnership  of  an  electric  railroad,  a  news 
paper,  a  fruit  stand,  or  even  the  right  for  four  years 
to  the  presidential  chair  itself,  a  chronic's  great 
ambition  is  to  become  able  to  make  the  tour  of  an 
adjoining  square,  to  reach  the  public  park,  to  gain 
three  pounds  avoirdupois,  and  similar  seemingly 
impossible  feats. 

Some  one  has  said,  that  the  difference  in  men 
consists  chiefly  in  the  degree  of  their  ambitions,  and 
the  poet  Longfellow  said,  that  the  great  reason 
why  men  did  not  achieve,  was  because  they  were 
troubled  with  great  ambitions.  The  average 
chronic  accomplishes  what  he  marks  out,  because 
great  ambitions  do  not  deflect  him  from  his  pur 
poses.  For  the  same  reason,  he  marks  out  only  the 
most  beneficial  things,  and  so  is  never  engaged  in 
the  superfluous. 

There  is  a  saying,  prevalent  only  among  chronics, 
but  doubtless  most  true,  that  a  chronic  never  dies. 
This  might  be  explained  on  the  ground  that  the 
unexpected  is  most  likely  to  occur. 

After  a  close  study  of  most  of  the  types  of  the 
animal  kingdom,  it  has  been  determined  that  the 
most  ignorant  are  the  most  hardy.  In  the  plant 


(>2  TALKS  WITH  CHRONICS. 

kingdom  it  is  well  known  that  flowers  must  be  guard 
ed  with  tender  care,  while  weeds  are  never  in  the 
slightest  diseased. 

Some  of  the  greatest  men,  from  Cicero  to  Pope, 
have  been  chronics,  while  the  average  outlaw  is  a 
person  to  whom  ill  health  is  unknown. 

Those  who  know  nothing,  fear  nothing,  they  never 
worry,  and  so  are  ever  well. 


The  most  beneficial    medicine  for  a  chronic  is 
exercise  in  the  open  air. 


Some   of  the  best  workers  of  body  and  of  mind 
are  first  to  succumb  to  disease. 


Wooded  sections  are  considered  healthy  sections, 
because  vegetation  sends  off  oxygen,  the  element 
most  vital  to  health. 

After  a  residence  of  a  few  years  in  high  altitudes, 
the  chest  measurement  is  always  increased.  People 
returning  to  low  altitudes  breathe  with  great  ease 
and  freedom,  owing  to  the  extra  lung  capacity 
gained  by  life  in  the  mountains. 


The  validity  of  a  man's  claim  to  exist  might  be 
considered  to  depend  upon  the  uselfulness  of  his 
existence.  It  is  said  that,  in  old  age,  the  great 
philosophers  have  not  regretted  approaching  death, 
because  they  realized  that  increasing  feebleness 
was  lessening  their  capacity  for  usefulness. 


CHEER  FOR  CHRONICS.  63 

This  subject  of  chronics  is  a  tender  one 
for  many.  People,  generally,  do  not 
enjoy  being  told  of  their  imperfections, 
.  especially  of  their  physical  imperfec 
tions.  Only  the  broad-minded  and  most  forgiving 
will  endure  it. 

Speak  of  the  imperfections  of  a  man's  business 
rival,  the  teacher,  his  neighbor,  or  his  enemy,  and  you 
at  once  have  his  attention,  often  his  approval.  Speak 
of  his  own  imperfections,  and  he  is  mad.  Speak  of 
his  physical  imperfections,  tell  him  that  his  ear  is 
too  large,  or  his  nose  too  small,  or  his  hat  under 
size,  or  that  he  has  perforated  lungs,  and  he  will 
whip  you  if  he  can.  If  he  can't,  he  probably  will 
not  speak  to  you  again,  and  often  will  do  everything 
possible  to  make  your  life  a  bleak  and  dreary  waste, 
a  Sahara  without  an  oasis. 

This  is  not  right.  You  benefit  a  man  by  telling 
him  of  his  faults,  even  of  his  physical  faults,  and  a 
man  who  is  wise,  when  you  do  this,  wTill  not  be 
offended.  This  is  a  great  age  for  inventions  and 
improvements.  There  are  devices  now  for  dimin 
ishing  the  size  of  the  ear,  for  enlarging  the  size  of 
the  nose.  Hard  study  will  make  a  larger  hat  neces 
sary.  The  right  kind  of  climate  will  shrink  the 
cavities  of  the  lungs.  So  can  one  but  know  his  im 
perfections,  will  one  patiently  hear  of  them  from 
others,  he  may  improve  himself,  cure  himself,  often 
make  himself  physically  perfect.  Mental  perfec 
tion  is  more  difficult  to  reach.  Moral  perfection  is 
impossible,  in  all  the  history  of  the  world,  it  only 


64  TALKS  WITH  CHRONICS. 

having  been  attained  by  but  one  person,  the  Man 
of  Galilee,  but  he  started  sinless,  while  you  and  I 
must  start  handicapped  by  the  sins  of  generations 
of  ancestors. 

If  you  are  a  physical  chronic,  put  yourself  in 
the  best  spot  on  earth  to  let  nature  work  out  the 
cure,  then  constantly  take  large  doses  of  the 
climate,  but  remember  that  climate  is  powerless  to 
do  anything  for  you  if  your  disposition  is  not  right 
to  receive  it.  Climate  does  nothing  for  a  chronic 
that  is  not  jovial,  good  natured,  happy,  joyous. 
The  most  hardy  animal  known,  grief  kills  shortly, 
but  not  so  rapidly  as  it  kills  chronics. 

If  you  are  an  ex-chronic,  the  dissease  not  having 
shown  itself  in  years,  become  morose  and  sad  and 
glum,  and  the  destroyer  will  soon  return,  and  you 
are  in  worse  condition  than  a  genuine  chronic,  es 
pecially  if  he  be  lively  and  gay.  Ex-chronics  have 
been  dying  on  every  hand  simply  because  they 
became  too  dejected  to  live. 

Any  chronic  can  be  jolly  if  he  tries.  "It  is  not 
always  the  favorable  things  that  surround  us  which 
make  us  happy,  but  the  more  favorable  to  which 
we  look  forward.'7  But  then  there  is  much  to-day 
to  make  us  joyous. 

America  has  mountains  just  high  enough,  streams 
just  deep  enough,  skies  just  blue  enough. 

Of  all  the  planets  of  the  solar  system  the  earth  is 
best  fitted  for  human  life.  Let  us  be  thankful 
that  we  are  aboard  the  earth,  that  we  live  in  this 
enlightened  age,  that  our  lot  is  cast  in  America. 


CHEER  FOR  CHRONICS.  65 

Chronic,  heal  thyself!  Everything  tends  to 
make  you  think  of  heaven,  so  some  of  the  time  fix 
your  mind  on  earth  and  its  good  things.  God  made 
them  to  be  enjoyed,  to  help  you  to  get  well.  If 
you  do  this  you  will  get  well,  and  when  the  grass 
is  growing  green  and  luxuriant  over  the  grave  of 
pessimists  who  thought  you  couldn't  hold  out 
much  longer,  you  will  be  alive  and  active  and 
singing  jovial  songs  which  only  a  recovered  chronic 
knows  how  to  sing  with  joy  and  gladness  in  every 
strain. 


66  TALKS  THROWN  IN, 


TALKS  THROWN  IN. 


''There  is  nothing  in  the  book,"  is  a 
common  remark  to  hear.  In  most  in- 
J"  the  stances,  the  individual  who  makes  this 
I$oo^  remark  considers  that  he  has  given  the 
book  a  poor  recommendation.  In  most  instances, 
the  individual  who  makes  this  remark  has  given 
himself  a  poor  recommendation.  The  characteristic 
difference  between  the  educated  and  the  unedu 
cated  is  this.  The  educated  observe  closely  and 
are  appreciative.  The  uneducated  observe  care 
lessly  and  are  unappreciative. 

Plants  and  animals  and  stones  and  running 
brooks  have  sermons  for  the  intelligent.  Nature 
and  nature's  works,  man  and  man's  works,  have 
little  or  no  interest  for  the  unintelligent.  Whether 
the  book  contains  much  or  little  depends  upon  the 
mind  that  peruses  it.  To  the  mind  dull,  unskilled, 
unaccustomed  to  think,  to  observe,  and  to  appre 
ciate,  the  book  has  but  little  in  it.  To  the  mind 
active,  thoughtful,  accustomed  to  seeking  out  the 
good  and  to  understanding  arid  appreciating  it, 
most  any  book  contains  much. 

The  great  thing  in  this  world  is  not  for  grander 
or  more  magnificent  in  art  or  literature,  but  more 


NOTHING  IN  THE  BOOK.  67 

appreciation  for  what  we  have.  The  ignorant  critic 
is  the  most  willing,  the  most  confident  critic. 
Those  who  know  nothing,  fear  nothing,  respect 
nothing,  appreciate  nothing,  and  so  are  most  ready 
to  criticize,  and  most  likely  to  condemn.  It  takes 
genius  to  discover  genius,  an  artist  to  understand 
art,  intelligence  to  appreciate  intelligence. 

The  person  who  can't  preach  is  most  exacting  of 
the  minister.  The  person  who  can't  intruct  is  most 
critical  of  the  teacher.  The  person  who  can't  com 
pose  Ls  most  condemning  of  an  author.  The  reason 
is  simply  because  a  person  who  has  never  accom 
plished  a  thing,  unless  he  be  exceedingly  intelligent, 
does  not  understand  the  effort  and  skill  involved. 
He  may  be  a  person  who  has  not  only  ever  worked 
with  his  hands,  but  has  not  thought  and  read  and 
reasoned  sufficiently,  so  that  he  has  a  standard  by 
which  to  estimate  mental  efforts.  The  most  gener 
ous,  the  most  appreciative,  are  the  most  intelligent, 
and  they  always  find  something  in  the  book,  and 
ordinarily  regret  that  they  have  not  more  time  to 
devote  to  its  perusal. 

There  is  so  much  now,  that  might  be  written  that 
the  great  question  with  the  author  of  a  book  is 
not  how  he  may  fill  its  pages,  but  what  he  ought 
to  exclude  from  its  pages.  The  great  aim  of  the 
best  authors  to-day  is  not  quantity,  but  quality. 
The  great  problem  is  not  to  secure  more  reading,  it 
is  to  secure  better,  more  inspiring,  more  elevating 
reading.  There  is  enough  in  the  book  for  those 
who  can  understand  and  appreciate  it. 


ti8  TALKS  THROWN  IN. 

Smerican  There  are  certain  remarks  which 
_  are  made  by  ail  people  of  all  classes. 

Unginalu^.  ^hese  remarks  are  current  and  have 
been  made  so  long  and  so  often  that  everybody  ex 
pects  them  to  be  made,  and  the  making  of  them 
occasions  no  comment,  engenders  no  criticism. 

In  this  day,  if  a  young  man,  or  a  young  woman  has 
fairly  good  wearing  apparel  and  fairly  regular  feat 
ures,  and  in  conversation,  will  rely  upon  standard 
phrases,  never  attempting  anything  original,  he  or 
she  may  pass  for  a  very  nice  young  person,  a  very 
proper  young  person,  a  young  person  whose  aquaint- 
ance  and  society  may  be  cultivated  with  profit. 

In  June  it  is  always  proper  to  say  "The  day  is 
charming/'  and,  "What  is  so  rare  as  a  day  in  June?" 
and  that,  "June  is  the  month  of  roses,"  and  so  on 
indefinitely,  One  in  saying  those  things  is  always 
proper,  always  correct,  gives  no  offense,  harms  no 
body,  pleases  most  everybody,  and  soon  acquires  a 
reputation  for  being  a  very  proper  person. 

Let  a  person  say  that,  "June  is  the  month  of  young 
colts  and  baby  donkeys,"  that,  "June  is  the  month  of 
June  bugs,"  that,  "This  day  reminds  him  of  his  best 
friend,  warm,  genial,  and  inspiring,"  and  the  public 
begin  to  stare.  Such  a  person  engenders  criticism, 
acquires  the  reputation  of  not  being  correct,  proper, 
prim.  He  has  stepped  outside  the  bonds  of  con 
ventionalism,  and  that  portion  of  the  public  which 
has  but  little  originality  itself,  detests  originality 
in  others,  and  their  method  of  punishment  is 
ostracism,  cold  and  heartless  neglect. 


AMERICAN  ORIGINALITY.  69 

So  the  person  who  has  allowed  himself  to  be 
original  is  soon  "the  crank,"  the  "awful  person," 
the  "unmannered  person/'  and  the  "person  who 
says  such  terrible  things." 

The  Englishman  of  to-day  is  the  most  conven 
tional  person  in  existence. 

The  American  of  to-day  is  the  most  original. 

The  Englishman  terms  the  American's  originality, 
drollery.  The  American  terms  the  Englishman's 
conventionalism,  nonsense.  The  Englishman  ac 
quired  his  present  degree  of  conventionalism 
through  centuries  of  continual  cultivation,  polish 
ing,  and  veneering.  The  American  acquired  his 
present  degree  of  originality  through  the  necessity 
imposed  upon  him  of  clearing  up  a  continent,  and 
covering  it  with  cities,  railroads,  telegraph  and 
telephone  lines. 

A  competence  has  made  the  Englishman  fat, 
stolid,  and  conventional.  Necessity  has  made  the 
American  shrewd,  inventive,  and  original. 

The  leopard  need  not  try  to  change  his  spots, 
neither  need  the  American  endeavor  to  lay  aside 
his  originality. 

An  American  endeavoring  to  ape  the. English,  to 
be  conventional,  is  a  sorry  picture.  It  inspires  both 
English  and  Americans  alike  with  pity  and  disgust. 
Of  all  traitors,  the  one  who  is  false  to  the  principles 
of  his  ancestors,  the  honored  customs  of  his  native 
land,  is  most  detestable. 

Let  the  American  remain  what  nature  intended 
him,  ingenious,  inventive,  original. 


70  TALKS  THROWN  IN. 

x*  .  Evils  in  this  world  are  contagious. 

^  *     Measles,    mumps,    whooping-cough 

and  small-pox,  as  well  as  many  more  virulent  dis 
eases,  are  communicated  by  contact.  It  would  be 
a  hard  and  cruel  world  in  which  to  live  if  the  good 
things  of  life  were  not  as  contagious  as  the  bad. 

Happiness  is  contagious.  The  driver  of  the  white 
mule  on  a  street  car  line  out  in  New  Mexico  had 
made  his  trips  as  unvarying  as  the  clock.  From  the 
morning  hour  till  late  in  the  afternoon  he  had  sat 
on  the  old  stool  and  scolded  the  white  mule.  He 
thought  of  the  electric  cars  whirling  along  in  the 
big  cities.  He  was  tired,  wrorn,  wearied,  unhappy, 
downcast,  dejected.  So  was  the  white  mule. 

A  happy  jolly  passenger  boarded  the  front  plat 
form  of  the  car  and  took  the  reins.  He  shouted 
in  tones  that  penetrated  out  into  the  distant  sub 
urbs,  "All  aboard  for  the  station."  He  laughed. 
So  did  the  three  men  and  two  women  passengers 
in  the  car.  So  did  the  weary  driver.  So  did  the 
white  mule. 

The  jolly  passenger  who  now  had  the  whip  crack 
ed  it  at  the  bay  horse  coming  down  with  another 
car.  The  jolly  passenger  hurrahed  for  the  next 
president  and  a  free  republic.  The  four  passengers 
of  the  other  car  swung  hats  and  handkerchiefs. 
The  tired  driver  of  the  first  car  was  getting  in 
terested  and  entertained,  and  consequently  invigor 
ated  and  rested.  He  waved  his  hat  to  the  driver 
of  the  bay  horse.  The  white  mule  gave  his  stub 
tail  a  friendly  wag  and  his  bell  jingled  merrier. 


CONTAGION.  71 

The  cars  sped  swifter  toward  their  distinations. 
The  passengers  told  stories.  By  their  tones  it  was 
evident  they  were  good  natured  stories.  The 
driver  of  the  first  car  whistled.  The  driver  of  the 
other  car  sang. 

The  jolly  passenger,  who  had  caused  all  the  good 
nature  for  eleven  persons  and  two  dumb  animals, 
passed  back  the  reins  to  a  happy,  gratified,  rested 
driver.  The  jolly  passenger  is  one  of  the  world's 
benefactors,  one  of  the  world  's  philanthropists. 


To  be  appreciative  is  a  faculty  indicating  intelli 
gence. 


Children  should  be  early  taught  the  importance 
of  being  cheerful  and  good  natured.  Habits  formed 
in  youth  are  lasting  habits,  and  most  good  natured 
men  and  women  practiced  their  good  nature  when 
young. 

The  performer  vvho  has  done  well  always  has  the 
sympathies  of  the  public  when  the  adverse  critic 
appears.  It  is  because  public  criticisms  are  for  the 
glory  of  the  critic,  rather  than  for  the  improvement 
of  the  performer,  published  articles  being  for  the 
perusal  of  not  one  but  many.  There  is  too  little  in 
the  world  to  make  hearts  glad,  too  much  to  make 
them  sad,  for  the  adverse  public  critic  to  ever  be 
come  very  popular. 


72  TALKS  THROWN  IN. 


flQocUrn        ^n  ^  weather,  men  of  great  men- 
P_.  tal  capacity  doubtless  feel  excessive 

Editorials.    heat  more  than  others     Editors  feel 

the  heat.     Some  editors  succumb.     Others  do  not. 

One  finds  occasionally  a  modern  editor,  who,  dur 
ing  such  hot  weather  as  we  have  every  summer, 
has  a  novel  way  of  supplying  his  readers  with  edi 
torial  opinions,  and  at  little  exhaustion  of  his  own 
intellectual  reservoir.  His  method  is  this.  From 
the  editorial  column  of  some  neighboring  news 
paper,  he  clips  a  thirty  or  forty  line  editorial  on 
some  prominent  subject  as  the  "Silver  Question," 
"Capital,"  or  "Congress,"  and  then  composes  two  lines 
to  accompany  it,  saying  for  himself,  "That  is  the 
correct  idea  all  through.  Editor  so  and  so  has  hit 
the  nail  on  the  head.  Come  again." 

If  the  morning  is  excessively  hot,  and  this  modern 
editor  feels  deeply  the  need  of  giving  himself  ease 
and  restfulness  from  thought,  and  his  editorial 
column  an  especial  big  boom,  he  will  clip  a  sixty 
or  seventy  line  editorial  on  a  subject  like  "Tariff," 
"Strikes,"  or  "Cyclones,"  and  then  instead  of  compos- 
sing  anything  of  his  own,  simply  attaches  a  quota 
tion  from  Carlton,  "Them's  my  sentiments  too," 
and  so  his  editorial  column  appears  on  publication. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  condemn  these  practices. 
It  is  not  wrong  to  portray  them.  It  is  not  neces 
sary  to  even  remark  that  the  plan  is  a  poor  one. 
It  is  the  privilege  of  the  person  who  edits  a  news 
paper  to  edit  it  as  he  chooses.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
suggest  that  such  editorials  are  inferior  to  the 


MODERN  EDITORIALS.  73 

regular  editorials  which  such  an  editor  would  pro 
duce  in  cold  weather.     They  might  be  superior. 

Such  editorials  have  this  advantage.  They  give 
the  editor  a  change.  He  may  use  a  fan  instead  of 
a  pen,  the  scissors  and  glue  pot  instead  of  head  and 
intellect,  muscle  instead  of  mind.  It  gives  him  a 
chance  to  store  up  thoughts  to  be  let  loose  during 
the  next  cool  spell.  The  device  is  certainly  one 
worthy  of  consideration. 


To  take  a  quantity  of  intangible  reading  matter 
into  the  mind  with  no  purpose  of  retaining  it, 
weakens  the  memory. 


At  the  present  there  are  so  many  newspapers,  so 
voluminous,  that  the  public  are  inclined  to  peruse 
them  with  a  less  degree  of  seriousness  than  for 
merly. 

To  read  is  important  but  it  is  more  important  to 
think.  N  o  person  should  form  the  habit  of  accepting 
what  he  reads  before  first  testing  it  by  his  own 
judgment  and  experience. 


In  this  age,  it  is  an  important  matter  that  both 
through  the  avenue  of  conversation,  and  that  of 
reading,  the  impure  and  detrimental  be  discarded. 
No  one  should  ever  retain  words  or  ideas  that  are 
not  the  best  and  purest. 


74  TALKS  THROWN  IN. 

A.  certain  western  editor  seems  to 
.  .  ,  ,  .  , 

think  that  whiskers  make  the  man, 

for,  in  remarking  a  on  former  presidential  candidate, 
he  suggests  that  he  tarry  at  Jericho  till  he  can  raise 
a  beard. 

Undoubtedly  this  editor  is  a  bearded  man.  It  is 
quite  evident  that  he  is  wonderfully  charmed  with 
his  whiskers  and  intellect,  and  not  reasoning  be 
yond  his  own  horizon,  he  supposes  no  man  can  be 
very  profound  mentally  unless  he  has  whiskers. 

If  he  will  study  the  subject  of  whiskers,  he  may 
be  surprised,  perhaps  even  chagrined,  to  learn  that- 
many  ordinary  men  have  whiskers,  while  some  ex 
traordinary  men  are  beardless. 

Whiskers  can't  add  anything  to  a  man's  mental 
capacity.  They  may  rob  a  man  of  mental  power. 
If  the  time  some  men  spend  in  sprouting,  growing, 
combing,  oiling,  powdering,  and  caressing  whiskers 
was  utilized  in  useful  study,  they  would  be  too  in 
telligent  to  make  sarcastic  remarks  about  beard 
less  men.  They  would  realize  that  some  beardless 
man,  with  an  intellect  as  long  as  their  whiskers, 
might  turn  aside  from  his  ordinary  avocation,  and 
give  them  a  mental  drubbing  which  would  linger 
in  their  memory  through  this  and  into  another  life. 

Intuitive  knowledge,  the  highest  type  ("lod  be 
stowed  upon  women,  mortals,  or  angels  rather, 
entirely  devoid  of  whiskers, 

A  mean  and  most  despicable  man  said  not  long  ago. 
that  the  reason  why  women  did'nt  have  whiskers 
was  because  they  could'nt  keep  their  mouths  closed 


WHISKERS.  75 

long  enough  to  be  shaved.  The  vile  creature! 
He  himself  had  a  great,  bushy  beard,  and,  how 
natural,  that  he,  too,  should  estimate  the  degree  of 
intelligence  by  the  amount  of  whiskers.  He  doubt 
less  never  travels,  observes,  or  thinks.  He  probably 
can't  read,  and  the  world  to  such  a  being  is  of  the 
same  color  as  the  glasses  through  which  he  views 
it.  He  might  have  been  a  barber  who  was  jealous 
because  he  could'nt  make  money  by  shaving  women. 

Achilles,  Aristotle,  Plato,  Pythagoras,  Caesar, 
Cicero.  Homer,  Virgil,  Napoleon,  and  Washington 
of  the  past,  had  no  whiskers,  and  men  of  the  present, 
beardless,  are  preachers,  presidents,  poets,  statesmen, 
in  fact,  a  majority  of  the  great  men  of  this  and 
other  nations. 

Now,  no  doubt  this  self-conceited  editor  would 
have  had  all  these  men  tarry  at  Jericho  till  they 
raised  a  beard.  Well,  the  poor  man  may  yet  learn, 
that  the  very  reason  these  men  have  become  great, 
is  because  they  devoted  their  time  and  attention  to 
other  things  than  waiting  about  for  whiskers  to 
grow.  He  may  learn,  when  too  late,  that  the  world 
moves,  and  now,  more  than  ever,  mind  is  superior 
to  matter,  mind  is  superior  to  appearance,  mind 
is  superior  to  whiskers. 

Laud  the  mind.  Extol  the  intellect.  Deprecate 
whiskers. 


Men  should  learn  the  truth  when  young   before 
whiskers  grow. 


76  TALKS  THROWN  IN. 

~  America  has  been  criticised  for  its 

lack  of  poetic  talent.  The  critics 
were  individuals  not  in  a  position  to  know  the  extent 
of  the  ability  of  American  bards.  The  writer  once 
worked  on  a  newspaper,  out  west,  and  at  that  time, 
occupied  a  position  which  enabled  him  to  know. 

Many  people  who  came  to  that  part  of  the  west, 
came  for  their  health.  We  desired  them  to  be 
able  to  read  oar  paper  and  in  no  way  injure  or 
undermine  that  for  which  they  came.  That  we 
might  gain  the  good  opinion  of  the  people  who 
came,  we  suppressed  much  poetry.  We  published 
a  little.  There  were  a  few  readers,  bold  people, 
who  would  risk  their  lives  in  the  pursuit  of  the 
strange  and  unreal.  They  demanded  poetry.  When 
they  must  have  it,  we  nearly  always  gave  them  our 
own  lyrics.  That  satisfied  them  and  gratified  us. 
In  that  way,  you  might  say,  we  killed  two  birds 
with  one  poem.  If  we  would  have  published  contrib 
uted  poems  we  could  have  killed  a  whole  flock  of 
birds  with  one  of  them.  Our  ambition  was  never 
to  kill  more  than  two  at  a  time. 

Poetry  was  all  right  in  ancient  times,  in  the  days 
of  Homer.  Then  men  didn't  have  to  eat  hurriedly, 
run  to  the  office,  dictate  work  to  a  score  of  employ 
es,  and  rush  to  keep  a  business  engagement, 

In  Virgil's  day,  men  could  sit  around  on  couches, 
dream  of  the  stars  and  winds  and  waves,  and  poetry 
was  the  natural  product  of  such  a  life.  In  an  age 
of  dreamers  poetry  had  its  mission.  Discovery  and 
invention,  progress  and  politics  have  changed  all 


POETRY.  77 

this.  Poetry  at  the  present  is  like  a  mummy  or  a 
mastodon,  exhibited  but  not  extoled,  viewed  but 
not  admired,  preserved  but  not  enjoyed. 

Now,  after  the  above,  some  will  sav,  ''This  man 
is  lacking  in  true  poetic  instinct."  "He  has  no  soul 
for  harmony,  rhyme,  and  rhythm."  It's  a  false 
accusation.  Many  a  poem  which  could  not  be 
trusted  to  public  print,  on  a  Sunday  afternoon,  is 
read  to  a  dear  and  intimate  friend.  At  such  times, 
tears  dim  his  eyes.  He  sighs.  Often  he  grasps  the 
hand  and  -feelingly  says — but  the  confidential, 
remarks  of  a  friend  shall  not  be  betrayed. 

The  first  stanzas  of  most  poems  should  be  read  in 
a  sad  but  distinct  and  inpressive  tone.  The  last 
stanzas  should  be  read  livelier  and  more  enthu 
siastic.  Poetry  should  always  be  followed  by 

'applause. 

$  $  $  &  % 

Whether  one  is  right  appreciative  of  modern  poet 
ry  depends  upon  his  age,  habits  of  life,  and  the 
state  of  his  affections. 


Strangers  reaching  mountainous  countries,  and 
being  inspired  by  the  beauty  of  the  marvelous  nat 
ural  surroundings,  are  at  once  curious  to  know 
about  the  class  of  people  first  and  most  effected 
by  nature's  beauties — poets.  As  soon  as  they  learn 
what  effect  great  altitude  has  upon  sheep,  crops,  or 
calves,  they  next  want  to  know  how  it  effects  poets. 
To  collect  and  publish  such  information  is  a  rich 
h'eld  of  journalism  as  yet  uninvaded. 


78  TALKS  THROWN  IN. 


<>     .  A  man  who  can  take  a  rear  seat  in 

'        church    at    Easter  time   and    view, 


unmoved,  the  display  of  hats  which 
adorns  the  heads  of  the  ladies,  must  be  a  harsh, 
cold  mortal,  with  no  love  of  the  beautiful,  or  the 
aesthetic. 

Easter  will  pass  down  the  annals  of  history  noted 
in  two  respects,  at  the  date  when  Lent  closes 
throughout  the  Christian  world,  and  as  the  time 
when  hats  most  nearly  resemble  a  flower  garden  in 
full  bloom. 

On  Easter  this  year  the  writer  was  charmed  with 
the  display.  Here  a  high  hat,  there  a  low  hat.  Here 
a  round  hat,  there  a  square  hat.  But  all  hats,  were 
big  hats,  all  were  sweet,  dear,  delightful,  bewitching, 
entrancing,  and  all  were  really  and  truly  a  botanic 
al  study. 

In  the  interval  before  the  opening  of  the  service, 
a  hat  was  studied  which  shut  off  the  view  both  of 
pulpit  and  preacher.  The  brim  of  this  hat  was  or 
namented  with  ferns.  Rising  above  the  ferns  on 
the  edge  of  the  crown  were  daffodils,  hearts-ease, 
and  lilies  of  the  valley.  From  the  center,  and 
higher  than  all,  arose  a  big  double  hyacinth,  When 
the  wearer  tipped  her  head  to  the  left,  the  organ  and 
choir  vanished  and  pulpit  and  preacher  swung  into 
view.  When  her  head  came  back  upright,  organ 
and  choir  appeared  and  pulpit  and  preacher  were 
gone  again. 

There  were  scores  of  hats  like  this  hat,  only  with 
different  and  a  greater  variety  of  flowers.  Winged 


SPRING  HATS.  79 

creatures  were  deceived.  A  bumblebee  which  flew 
in  at  the  open  window,  dived  into  a  daisy,  rested  a 
moment  on  a  honey-suckle,  plunged  at  a  clump  of 
clover,  and  finally  went  out  of  sight  altogether 
down  in  the  corolla  of  a  big  morning-glory  which 
ornamented  a  hat  over  by  the  middle  aisle. 

It  would  thrill  one  when  the  minister  said,  "Let 
as  pray/'  to  see  all  the  flower  gardens,  a,s  though 
joined  into  a  single  great  garden,  sink  to  a  level  of 
the  backs  of  the  seats.  And  when  the  minister  said, 
"Amen,"  it  was  a  sight  one  would  never  forget,  to 
see  the  whole  banks  of  flowers  rise  again  to  the 
higher  level. 

At  first  one  would  suppose  no  men  were  present, 
but  by  closer  search,  now  and  then,  as  the  great 
mounds  of  flowers  would  sway  a  little  apart,  here 
the  chin  whiskers  of  a  bearded  man  might  protrude, 
there  a  masculine  shoulder,  and  often  the  crown  of 
a  bald  head. 

Oh!  the  gay,  the  beautiful,  the  brilliant  flower 
adorned  hats.  They  fill  our  lives  with  pleasure. 
May  the  fashion  never  die.  Never! 


The  hat  is  the  crowning  ornament  of  dress. 


The  selection  of  the  hat  reveals  the  taste  of  the 
individual. 


In  countries  at  the  far  east,  the  hat  indicates  the 
nationality  of  the  person. 


80  TALKS  THROWN  IN, 

<_«          Nothing  excites  a  boy  like  the  advent  of 

/  the  circus.  The  very  idea  that  panthers, 

Circus,  leopards,  tigers,  and  lions,  animals  of 
which  he  has  read  and  dreamed  for  days  and 
months,  are  actually  in  his  native  town,  that  they 
are  to  be  seen  and  enjoyed  by  him,  these  thoughts 
make  a  boys's  nerves  tingle  from  head  to  foot. 

The  boy  who  sleeps  soundly  the  night  before  the 
circus  comes  is  a  dullard.  The  boy  who  rises  later 
than  four  o'clock  circus  morning  is  sick.  The  boy 
who  stays  at  home  circus  day  and  doesn't  even  look 
out  to  see  the  street  parade,  is  a  dunce. 

Pessimists  will  complain  about  the  amount  of 
money  the  circus  takes  out  of  the  town.  But  if  the 
pessimist  will  stay  away  from  the  show,  it  wouldn't 
take  any  of  his  money  away,  and  what  business  is 
it  to  him  what  other  people  do  with  their  money. 
Every  pessimist,  who  by  staying  away  from  the 
circus  and  by  denying  himself  in  similar  ways, 
accumulates  a  lot  of  money,  is  obliged  at  last  to  die 
and  leave  it.  He  not  only  misses  the  circus  all  his 
life,  but  at  the  end,  suffers  added  pain  in  having  to 
part  with  a  fortune.  People  who  go  to  the  circus 
and  enjoy  their  money  while  they  live,  at  death 
only  have  to  part  with  their  friends.  Fathers  and 
mothers,  state  truly,  when  did  you  ever  spend  a 
dollar  which  gave  you  more  genuine  enjoyment 
than  when  you  took  your  little  five-year-old  to  the 
circus?  How  he  did  stare  at  the  big  snake,  and 
crow  at  the  monkeys,  and  shout  for  joy  to  see  the 
comical  clowns. 


THE  CIRCUS.  81 

"Does  a  circus  do  good?77  Bless  us,  what  a  ques 
tion  !  Don't  you  know  that  through  lack  of  enter 
tainment  and  amusement,  men  who  might  be  use 
ful  citizens,  helping  to  make  others  cheerful  and 
happy,  are  led  to  be  crabbed  old  pessimists,  one  of 
whom  sours  a  whole  neighborhood?  Melancholy 
will  drive  the  best  of  men  to  suicide. 

Scientists  are  discovering  that  most  diseases  orig 
inate  through  the  nervous  system.  The  man  or 
woman  forever  in  the  same  old  treadmill,  with  no 
diversion,  is  laying  the  foundation  for  disease.  It 
is  cheaper  to  rest  a  day  and  give  the  circus  manager 
a  dollar,  than  to  pay  some  sanitarium  Five  Hundred 
or  a  Thousand  dollars,  or  to  go  to  the  trouble  of  an 
expensive  funeral. 

Anything  that  drives  away  care  and  anxiety  and 
grief  is  a  blessing.  That  is  why  God  created  flowers 
and  birds  and  mountain  peaks  and  rippling  lakes. 

The  circus  manager  may  not  admit  it  himself, 
but  he  is  one  of  the  greatest  philanthropists  of  the 
age.  He  helps  to  throttle  care  and  grief.  Grief,  if 
left  alone,  will  not  only  kill  men,  but  dogs. 

If  you  didn't  go  to  the  circus  last  year,  go  this 
year.  Be  thankful  that  you  live  in  a  country  that 
can  afford  a  circus.  Take  every  child  that  merits 

your  love. 

««?  &  &  &  & 

What  a  great  device  a  brass  band  is  to  cheer  and 
inspire.  What  political  party  would  expect  to  go 
through  a  campaign  without  martial  music,  with 
out  a  band? 


82  TALKS  THROWN  IN. 


~  .  To  moralize  is  condemned  by  many.  To 
take  a  review  of  the  past,  and  to  lay  plans 
for  the  future  is  distasteful  to  some. 


In  the  battle  of  life>  there  are  those  who 

do  their  best,  others  contend  in  an  indifferent  man 
ner.  The  person  who,  during  the  past  month,  gave  to 
his  labor  his  best  efforts,  who  worked  in  an  earnest 
manner,  in  an  industrious  manner,  achieved  some 
thing.  He  achieved  something  wrhich  gives  him 
pleasure  to  contemplate.  To  review  the  accomplish 
ments  of  the  month  is  a  satisfaction  to  such  a  per 
son.  He  gets  his  encouragement  for  the  care  and 
patient  exertion  which  he  should  put  forth  this 
month,  by  admiring  the  results,  which  the  care  and 
patient  exertion  expended  last,  produced. 

A  recast  of  last  month  is  distasteful  to  any  one 
who  worked  in  an  indifferent  manner.  A  dissatis 
fied  feeling  is  one  of  the  punishments  Nature  sets 
upon  careless,  half-hearted  endeavor.  No  one  can 
derive  any  more  pleasure  from  tasks  poorly  execut 
ed,  than  from  tasks  neglected  and  unperformed. 
Energy  expended  in  producing  imperfect  results  is 
wasted  energy.  It  pays  to  either  do  a  thing  well 
or  to  let  it  alone. 

The  accomplishments  of  last  month  should  be 
object  lessons  for  this  month.  The  achievements 
for  the  first  half  of  the  year  ought  to  serve  as  in 
spirations  for  the  last  half.  It  is  right  to  take  a 
recast  of  the  month.  The  person  who  can  do  so 
with  pleasure  is  a  fortunate  person,  a  person  to  be 
complimented,  for  his  work  is  legitimate  work 


1IEVIEW  THE  MONTH.  83 

honestly  executed.  In  the  main,  what  he  conceived 
he  achieved,  and  the  tendencies  of  last  month  be 
come  the  determinations  of  this  month,  of  future 
months,  and  future  years. 

The  person  who  has  not  pleasant  thoughts  of 
past  accomplishments  should  produce  somthirig 
better  now.  It  is  well  to  make  new  resolves.  It  is 
better  to  execute  them. 

If  this  month  is  unsatisfactory  begin  anew  next 

month. 

&  $  &  %  ® 

Accomplishment  is  not  so  much  a  matter  of  ener 
gy  as  intelligence.  Intelligence  takes  advantage  of 
winds  and  waves. 

People  most  sucessful  in  their  projects  are  those 
most  judicious  in  their  plans,  A  project  well  plan 
ned  is  a  project  easy  of  a  successful  execution. 

It  is  often  remarked  that  experience  is  the  great 
est  educator.  Experience  will  educate  people  who 
will  stop  to  consider  occurrences  and  their  import. 


The  difference  in  men  lies  chiefly  in  their  ability 
to  calculate  and  execute.  Men  are  great  or  or 
dinary  according  as  they  have  •  mind  capacity  for 
accomplishment. 

It  is  a  pleasure  for  most  people  to  recount  past 
events.  Children  delight  in  hearing  the  experien 
ces  of  parents,  and  many  a  child  makes  useful  re 
solves  when  parents  relate  occurrences  of  the  past. 


84  TALKS  THROWN  IN. 

~.  How  common  are  terrible  mine  disas- 

~  ters.  In  America  they  are  frequent, 

Uisasters.  ^^  no^.  more  so  than  jn  Europe  or  Afri 
ca.  Every  year  hundreds  of  industrious  workmen 
are  buried  in  mines.  Some  are  mercifully  put  out 
of  existence  in  an  instant,  others,  buried  alive,  suf 
fer  the  tortures  of  a  living  tomb  till  death  comes 
to  their  relief. 

No  one  doubts  that  this  great  loss  of  life,  this 
torture  of  wives  and  little  ones,  is  due  entirely  to 
the  greed  of  wealthy  mine  owners.  The  money 
kings  are  too  desirous  of  increasing  their  fortunes, 
already  enormously  great,  to  be  willing  to  spend  the 
little  money  necessary  to  render  their  mines  safe 
for  the  workmen  employed. 

A  noted  American  said,  "All  evils,  no  matter 
what  their  nature,  may  be  summed  up  in  one  word, 
selfishness."  The  same  motive  that  inspires  murder, 
inspires  a  wealthy  company  to  allow  their  laborers 
to  work  each  day  in  the  jaws  of  a  death  trap,  and 
the  blood  of  the  slaughtered  workmen  is  upon  the 
hands  of  the  selfish  men  who  compose  the  company. 
Such  men  have  few  good  motives  which  will  reform 
them.  They  should  be  reformed. 

Mines,  like  banks  and  insurance  companies,  should 
be  under  the  inspection  of  competent  goverment 
officers.  Mines  that  endanger  the  lives  of  the 
workmen  should  be  closed  till  the  owners  are  will 
ing  to  expend  the  money  to  make  them  safe. 

Men  who  work  in  mines  have  not  the  time  or 
tact  to  urge  legislation.  Others  should  assist  them. 


FAIRNESS.  85 

g*  >  To  attemp  to  stifle  public  expression  on 

any  subject  is  un-American.  If  a  man, 
a  union,  or  a  society  has  opinions,  the  American 
idea  is  to  give  the  opinions  a  hearing.  If  the  opin 
ions  are  false,  unreasonable,  then  the  common 
sense  and  good  judgment  of  the  American  people 
can  be  relied  upon  to  stamp  them  as  such.  If  the 
ideas  are  true,  then  the  quicker  societies,  churches, 
and  individuals  learn  of  their  truthfulness  and 
adopt  them,  the  better  it  is  for  all.  "Truth  is 
mighty  and  in  the  long  run  must  prevail." 

The  person  who  stops  his  ears,  or  his  home,  or  his 
church,  and  will  hear  nothing  on  some  subject  of 
national  interest,  proves  that  he  fears  there  is  more 
reason  in  that  subject  than  his  limited  mental  ca 
pacity  will  enable  him  to  refute.  He  exhibits  his 
prejudice  which  is  akin  to  ignorance.  He  stamps 
himself  un-American  for  the  American  idea  is  fair 
play,  both  sides  of  all  questions. 

Such  men  help  the  cause  they  persecute.  Those 
"who  were  not  moved  by  the  slavery  question  itself, 
were  influenced  to  oppose  slavery  because  the  cham 
pions  of  slavery  endeavored  to  stifle  public  expres 
sion.  There  are  many  to-day  who  are  becoming 
strong  temperance  advocates,  not  moved  by  the  evils 
of  intemperance,  but  by  the  fact  that  free  expres 
sion  of  temperance  ideas  has  been  opposed.  So  with 
women's  suffrage,  it  has  made  friends  throughout 
America,  not  so  much  from  the  justice  of  the  cause, 
but  because  there  are  some  so  narrow  that  they 
would  prevent  expression  of  opinion  on  that  subject. 


86  TALKS  THROWN  IN. 

Give  all  public  questions  a  public  hearing.  It  is 
all  proper  for  a  person  to  have  his  own  ideas  on  a 
public  question,  but  he  should  not  attempt  to  com 
pel  others  to  adopt  and  retain  then,,  for  his  ideas 
may  be  narrow  or  bigoted  or  even  entirety  false. 

The  authorities  of  Galileo's  age  forced  Galileo  to 
declare  that  he  had  taught  an  untruth,  that  the 
world  was  not  round.  That  Galileo  retracted  what 
he  knew  was  true  made  no  difference  to  the  truth 
finalty  being  known  and  believed.  Charles  Sumner 
was  clubbed  in  the  senate  chamber  because  he  told 
the  truth.  This  only  hastened  the  dissemination 
throughout  America  of  the  truths  Sumner  advo 
cated. 

No  one  can  burn  or  beat  or  club  back  the  truth. 
Those  who  attempt  it  resort  to  the  lowest,  to  brute 
force.  Let  falsehood  or  truth  be  told.  Falsehood 
will  die.  Truth  will  live. 

&  &  ®  &  $> 

The  discussion  of  any  topic  educates  people  upon 
that  topic,  often  too  upon  other  topics. 


Love  of  fairness  is  implanted  in  the  heart  by  na 
ture.  Children  recognize  fairness,  and  the  es 
teem  of  a  child  can  only  be  retained  by  fairness 
in  treatment. 

The  farther  men  get  away  from  monarchs,  the 
keener  is  their  sense  of  fairness.  The.  more  men 
experience  justice  for  themselves  the  more  they 
desire  it  for  their  fellows. 


HOW  TO  TREAT  A  WIFE.  87 


Kou?  to          ^  *s  an  °^  sayin&  that  fools 
_  ~y,,      in    where   angels   fear   to   tread. 

1  reat  a   (QJife.  r^  more  a  man  knows  about  a 


subject,  the  more  likely  he  is  to  consider  it  intricate 
and  deep.  The  less  a  man  knows  about  a  topic  the 
readier  he  is  to  talk  and  write  of  it. 

It  has  just  been  learned,  that  a  majority  of  the 
essays  on  woman  were  written  by  bachelors,  that  a 
majority  of  the  essays  on  man  were  composed  by 
spinsters.  It  is  strange  but  true,  that  many  people 
insist  upon  doing  something  which  they  can't  do, 
that  many  writers  insist  upon  treating  topics  of 
which  they  know  nothing. 

There  is  an  article  on  this  same  subject  that  has 
been  circulated  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and 
the  author  reaches  his  climax,  makes  his  principal 
point,  by  asserting  that  every  married  man  should 
select  and  keep  a  certain  cough  remedy  in  the  house 
ready  to  give  his  wife  at  a  moment's  notice.  Now 
what  an  idea  is  that  to  spread  broadcast  through 
the  country? 

Here  is  a  young  man  in  love.  His  sweetheart's 
beauty  and  brightness,  her  innocence  and  trustful 
ness  have  charmed  him.  He  lives  in  a  new,  and 
enraptured  world.  He  woos,  will  wed,  but  now 
comes  the  spectre  to  deter  him  from  the  contem 
plated  matrimonial  step.  Above  every  thing,  it  tvould 
be  his  desire,  after  marriage  to  so  treat  the  tender 
creature  who  trustfully  confides  in  him,  that  he 
may  be  above  and  beyond  reproach.  He  is  inform 
ed  that,  in  order  to  do  this,  he  must  at  once  select 


88  TALKS  THROWN  IN. 

and  purchase  a  cough  remedy.  Such  a  suggestion 
is  to  his  affections  like  the  hot  desert  wind  to  wav 
ing  fields  of  corn,  like  alkaline  water  to  the  thirsty 
traveler,  like  glowing  sunshine  upon  the  fleecy 
snow.  He  turns,  and  now  sits  lonely  in  his  dreary 
appartment  and  only  dreams  of  happiness  which 
might  have  been. 

Married  men  know  that  you  don't  have  to  plan 
how  you  will  treat  your  wife.  After  you  are  a  few 
months  married,  your  wife  will  attend  to  all  plans 
of  that  character,  and  your  wits  will  be  more  exer 
cised  in  devising  means  to  avoid  executing  some 
of  them. 

If  she  wants  a  cough  remedy,  she  will  make  her 
own  selection.  If  she  wants  a  feather  trimmed 
cloak,  it  will  be  the  same,  or  new  sleeves  for  her 
dress  or  a  new  dress  for  her  sleeves,  or  new  flowers 
for  her  hat  or  a  new  hat  for  her  flowers,  she  will 
plan  it.  All  you  need  worry  your  mind  about  will 
be  the  payment  of  the  bills.  But  don't  be  too  much 
exercised  about  them.  Feathers  and  flowers  come 
cheap,  and  they  will  so  enhance  your  wife's  beauty 
that  you'll  consider  them  good  investments  as  they 
truly  are. 

If  your  wife  wants  to  take  a  trip  to  the  sea-shore 
she  will  plan  it.  You  will  hear  about  it  before 
she  starts — before  the  ticket  is  purchased.  Kisses 
that  she  might  give  away  before  marriage,  you  will 
earn  afterwards.  Don't  be  frightened  either  about 
this.  That  which  costs  nothing  you  never  appre 
ciate.  "That  which  costs  nothing  is  worth  nothing." 


HOW  TO  TREAT  A  WIFE.  89 

After  marriage,  when  you  have  become  well 
acquainted  with  the  person  who  was  formerly  your 
sweetheart,  when  you  have  contended  with  the 
world  side  by  side,  suffered  together,  grieved  togeth 
er,  rejoiced  together,  when  there  is  a  little  one  who 
clings  to  you  both  and  to  whom  you  both  cling, 
then  you  will  first  comprehend  the  breadth  and 
depth  of  true  affection,  then  you  will  understand 
the  great  problem  is  not  how  to  treat  a  wife,  but 
what  treatment  you  may  apply  to  yourself  to  make 
you  worthy  of  your  wife. 

It  is  one  of  the  greatest  mistakes  of  humanity  to 
ever  study  others  and  never  study  themselves. 
Examine  yourself.  Hunt  out  your  own  faults  and 
failings.  Correct  them.  Improve  yourself  and  you 
will  please  your  wife  most,  honor  her  most,  and  so 
treat  her  best. 


'She  Will  Plan  It.' 


PHYSIOGNOMY.  91 


SOCIAL  TALKS. 


A   person   with  regular  features 
takeg  pleasure  in  the  knowledge. 

Some  with  a  nose  too  large  or  a  nose  too  small, 
with  a  protruding  chin  or  a  retreating  chin,  with 
large  ears,  or  hair  of  an  unusual  color,  go  through 
life  grieving.  All  people  want  to  look  well.  Some 
people  want  to  be  pretty.  Most  people  desire  to 
be  good  looking. 

There  is  a  philosophy  in  all  things.  If  w.e  are 
willing  to  read  and  reason  on  any  subject  we  can 
learn. 

The  ancients  considered  the  features  that  which 
determined  the  success  of  the  individual.  Regular 
features  were  not  regarded  with  favor.  Character, 
most  often  revealed  through  irregular  features,  was 
highly  regarded.  In  all  ages,  pretty  people  have  been 
greatly  in  favor  among  the  masses.  They  have 
been  but  little  in  favor  among  philosophers.  The 
great  factor  in  accomplishment  is  to  utilize  time. 
The  person  who  concentrates  all  his  time  upon  a 
single  project,  no  matter  how  great  the  project, 
achieves  it.  Pretty  people,  being  in  demand 
among  many,  seldom  economize  their  time.  They 


92  SOCIAL  TALKS. 

seldom  concentrate  their  energies.  They  are  sel 
dom  associated  with  great  deeds.  A  knowledge 
of  their  beauty  renders  the  disposition  of  pretty 
people,  odious. 

Homely  people,  people  with  irregular  features, 
are  left  to  themselves.  From  childhood  there  is 
but  little  social  demand  upon  their  time.  Their 
amusement  must  be  in  their  own  occupation.  Their 
time  is  utilized  in  doing  something.  They  early 
acquire  skill  in  some  direction.  They  get  their 
greatest  enjoyment  in  doing  what  they  like  to  do. 
Every  tendency  is  to  confine  their  energies  to  that 
in  which  they  excel.  So  the  great  artists,  the  great 
musicians,  the  great  masters  of  the  world  are  de 
veloped. 

Whittier  was  a  homely  shoemaker.  Lincoln 
was  an  ungainly  rail-splitter.  Napoleon  not  only 
had  irregular  features,  but  was  almost  a  dwarf, 
being  but  about  five  feet  high.  Pope  was  a  cripple. 
Byron  was  club-footed.  Raphael  was  deformed  and 
walked  with  a  crutch.  Socrates,  the  wisest  man  of 
secular  history,  was  considered  by  the  Greeks,  the 
homeliest.  Angel o,  Aristotle,  Archimedes,  Plato 
and  Pythagoras,  the  greatest  among  Greek  and  Ro 
man  masters,  had  irregular  features. 

Pretty  people  are  born  pretty.  Good  looking 
people  become  so  through  right  living.  The 
thoughts  shape  the  countenance,  and  people  with 
irregular  features  become  good  looking  people  if 
they  are  inspired  by  noble  purposes.  Revengeful 
thoughts  produce  a  revengeful  countenance,  selfish 


PHYSIOGNOMY.  93 

thoughts  a  selfish  countenance,  evil  thougts  an  evil 
countenance,  Forgiving  thoughts  produce  a  for 
giving  countenance,  generous  thoughts  a  generous 
countenance,  honest  thoughts  an  honest  countenance 
Irregular  features  are  not  to  be  deplored.  They 
may  indicate  honesty,  intelligence,  genius.  Sterling 
qualities  accompany  irregular  features.  If  the  pur 
pose  be  noble,  the  features  become  noble,  and  the 
person  good  looking.  It  pays  to  cherish  high  ideals, 

a  noble  purpose. 

$  *  $  &  $ 

Personal  improvement,  the  bettering  of  the  in 
dividual,  is  a  matter  of  desire.  A  person  pervaded 
with  a  desire  for  more  knowledge,  a  higher  degree 
of  culture,  will  improve  himself. 


There  are  a  few  people  in  some  communities  who 
will  ridicule  any  person  who  attemps  to  use  better 
language,  to  practice  better  morals,  or  to  make  him 
self  more  cultured  and  refined.  The  person  who 
ridicules  his  neighbor's  efforts  to  improve  himself 
is  actuated  either  by  jealousy  or  ignorance.  The 
person  who  ridicules  improvement  is  but  little  re 
moved  above  the  animal.  If  left  to  himself  he 
would  soon  degenerate  to  the  brute  with  which  he 
has  more  in  common  than  with  civilization  and  pro 
gress.  The  future  hopes  of  America  center  in  the 
fact,  that  a  majority  of  the  American  people,  through 
more  elevating  reading  and  better  schools  and 
more  intelligent  conversation,  strive  to  reach  a 
higher  plane  of  enlightenment. 


94  SOCIAL  TALKS. 

P  fort  Man  is  moulded  by  his  work  and  sur 
roundings.  Caesar  ga-ve  as  a  reason 
why  the  Gauls  were  hardier  and  braver  than  the 
other  tribes  against  whom  he  contended,  that  they 
were  farther  removed  from  the  influences  of  the 
Province,  and  that  merchants  least  often  penetrated 
to  them,  importing  those  things  which  weaken  and 
effeminate  the  mind. 

The  old  Helvetians,  the  ancestors  of  the  present 
Swiss  race,  were  bold  and  brave  and  persistent. 
The  Helvetians  imbibed  their  boldness  from  ever 
living  with  a  threatening  avalanche  at  their  back. 
They  took  on  their  bravery  from  the  necessity  of 
constantly  defending  themselves  from  stronger 
surrounding  nations.  They  became  persistent  be 
cause  they  must  live  and  build  and  harvest  upon  a 
steep  and  rocky  Alpine  declivity. 

The  boy  who  remains  at  home,  protected  and 
shielded  ever  by  a  fond  mother,  does  not  acquire 
the  force  of  character,  energy,  and  determination 
to  fight  a  successful  battle  in  the  industrial  or  pro 
fessional  marts  of  the  world.  The  girl  who  only 
plays  on  the  harp  or  piano,  never  performing  upon 
the  cook  stove  or  kitchen  table,  does  not  gain  the 
development  and  experience  necessary  to  fit  her 
for  first  place  in  her  own  and  her  husband's  home. 

Every  experience  helps  to  develop  a  person.  Sea 
men  become  skilled  on  stormy  seas.  Warriors  be 
come  brave  through  fierce  contests.  Professional 
men  become  renowned  through  intricate  and  dif 
ficult  practice.  Inaction,  ease,  restfulness  are  not 


EXERTION.  95 

taught  or  encouraged  ar^where  in  the  earth  below, 
or  heaven  above.  A  man  who  is  too  restful  to  be 
of  service  on  earth,  God  couldn't  use  in  heaven. 
There  is  clothing  to  be  made,  sermons  to  be  composed, 
prairies  to  be  cultivated,  patients  to  be  healed,  ora 
tions  to  be  spoken,  arid  mines  to  be  dug.  Every 
occurrence  of  benefit  to  man  or  of  service  to  God 
is  the  product  of  action,  the  result  of  labor,  the 
consequence  of  exertion. 

The  man  who  attemps  to  get  out  of  work  and 
responsibility,  attempts  to  get  out  of  being  a  man. 
He  makes  himself  useless  for  earth,  and. unfits  him 
self  for  service  in  heaven.  He  becomes  a  nonentity, 
a  nothing,  a  nobody.  A  competence,  .happiness, 
prosperity,  health  are  conditions  attained  only 
through  constant  exertion.  In  this  world  force  of 
habit  is  everything.  Learn  early  to  strive,  contend, 
acquire,  achieve.  Learn  early  honorable  exertion, 

honorable  work. 

&  $  <§>  &  $ 

The  price  of  achievement  is  personal  exertion, 
personal  endeavor. 

Nothing  improves  any  man  like  exertion.  More 
men  rust  out  than  wear  out.  Sam  Jones  says  that 
stagnation  in  the  last  station  this  side  of  damnation. 


There  is  no  doubt  that  prosperity  contributes 
to  industry  and  that  industry  promotes  virtue.  A 
noted  American  said  that  all  evils  were  cradled  in 
the  lap  of  idleness.  Idleness  is  a  natural  result  of 
both  luxury  and  poverty. 


96  SOCIAL  TALKS. 

~  .  It  is  every  man  and  ev7ery  woman's 
duty  to  take  a  respite  from  work  and 
worry  at  least  once  a  year.  The  person  who  ever 
works  and  never  rests  becomes  a  person  hard  in  sym 
pathies,  unsociable,  inflexible.  He  changes  from  a 
being  with  tenderness,  pity,  and  affection  in  his  na- 
tuie,  to  a  machine,  a  mechanism,  cold,  harsh,  re 
pulsive,  exacting. 

Most  people  belong  to  the  working  class.  Their 
duties  may  in  the  main  be  pleasant  duties,  but  they 
are  regular  duties,  their  duties  are  confining  duties, 
and  the  tendencies  in  every  respect  are  to  hold 
them  ever  in  service.  The  man  or  woman  who  takes 
a  reasonable  vacation  uses  much  will  power,  and 
leaves  work  at  a  time,  when  from  appearances,  the 
absence  would  neccessitate  important  affairs  being 
neglected,  the  most  necessary  things  going  unac 
complished,  and  vital  duties  remaining  unperform 
ed  and  suffering  for  want  of  attention. 

A  person  who  has  left  all  these  things  and  gone 
off  for  a  few  weeks  rest  and  recreation,  can  affirm 
in  what  a  surprising  way  everything  didn't  go  to 
the  bad  during  his  absence.  Such  a  person  has 
realized  that  the  world  and  business  moved  during 
his  absence,  and  he  is  often  surprised  at  his  own  lit 
tleness  and  lack  of  importance  when  he  came  to  see 
how  well  everything  went  while  he  was  off  duty. 

Take  a  vacation.  It  puts  new  life,  new  hopes, 
new  courage  into  a  worker.  It  give  one  a  chance 
to  reflect,  make  new  resolves,  and  start  again  in  a 
different  and  a  better  way  than  the  one  left  off.  It 


VACATION.  97 

refreshes  body  and  mind,  and  promotes  health  and 
contentment.  It  gives  one  a  chance  to  see  others 
on  the  stage  of  action,  and  often  the  lesson  of  how 
to  accomplish  more  with  less  energy  is  learned.  It 
gives  one  a  chance  to  study  and  to  appreciate  na 
ture,  and  to  acquire  knowledge  which  can  only  be 
obtained  through  rock  and  stream  and  rippling  lake 
and  mountain  peaks,  all  God's  creations. 

&  $  &  &  & 

Change  of  employment  is  often  a  means  of  rest 
and  recuperation. 

A  public  drinking  fountain  is  a  public  blessing. 
But  somebody  says,  who  would  drink  at  a  public 
drinking  fountain?  Oh!  of  course  not  the  elite,  the 
fastidious.  But  the  average  man  and  woman,  the 
rank  and  tile,  and  the  happy  children  would,  and 
for  them  the  Lord  keeps  the  old  wrorld  moving. 


A  man's  gratitude,  affections,  memory  are  reached 
through  his  stomach.  A  person  whirls  along  hun 
dreds  of  miles  on  a  railroad  train  and  retains  but 
vague  impressions  of  the  towns  and  cities  through 
which  he  is  conveyed.  The  train  halts  at  a  city  for 
refreshments  and  the  man  is  fed.  That  city  the 
man  retains  in  his  memory  to  his  dying  day.  He 
speaks  of  it  to  his  friends.  He  tells  what  a  good 
meal  he  got  there  when  passing  over  that  line  of 
railroad.  Men  may  come  and  men  may  go,  but  the 
place  where  they  are  fed,  that  place  will  cling  in 
their  hea.rts  and  memories. 


98  SOCIAL  TALKS. 

^  Citizen's    Association  such   as 
most  cities  possess  is  a  benefit. 
Associations.    Public  opinion  to  be  of  service 

must  always  have  some  channel  in  which  it  may  con 
centrate  and  express  itself.  With  no  legitimate 
avenue  in  which  to  flow,  the  thoughts  of  men  of  in 
fluence,  men  who  have  the  welfare  of  the  city  at 
heart,  can  never  resolve  themselves  into  deeds  of 
usefulness  and  service  to  the  city. 

Water  does  not  rise  higher  than  its  source,  neither 
does  a  city,  in  improvement  and  enterprise,  become 
superior  than  the  ideals  for  it  of  its  representative 
citizens.  If  the  surroundings  which  a  person  has 
planned  are  known,  a  fair  estimate  of  the  mind  of 
the  person  can  be  formed  without  coming  in  actual 
contact  with  the  person.  So  by  passing  up  and 
down  the  thoroughfares  of  a  city  and  viewing  its 
public  conveniences,  a  very  accurate  estimate  of  the 
minds  and  business  capacity  of  its  public  citizens 
may  be  obtained. 

Small  minds  invariably  occupy  themselves  with 
small  projects.  Great  minds  are  not  always  those 
minds  that  occupy  themselves  with  great  projects. 
A  mind  to  be  great  must  not  only  occupy  itself 
with  great  projects,  it  must  be  able  to  push  to  a 
successful  termination  great  projects. 

A  few  years  ago  a  man  engaged  a  public  hall  in 
Chicago,  went  there  entirely  alone  and  held  a  polit 
ical  convention.  He  nominated  himself  for  the  pres 
idency  of  the  United  States  and  passed  through  the 
canvass  a  candidate  for  the  highest  office  in  the  land. 


CITIZEN'S  ASSOCIATIONS.  99 

That  man's  mind  was  occupied  with  a  project  great 
enough,  and  yet  the  method  with  which  he  pursued 
his  project  stamped  his  mind  small  and  the  man's 
importance  insignificant. 

There  are  conditions  in  many  cities  which  reflect 
a  fair  degree  of  credit  to  their  leading  citizens,  but 
in  most  cities  there  is  a  need  of  better  conditions. 

That  means  more  improvements,  greater  projects 
successfully  executed,  and  the  promotion  of  public 
improvements,  the  accomplishment  of  public  pro 
jects  is  the  office  of  the  citizen's  association. 

9  *  *  *  * 

Every  person's  property  is  of  more  value  located 
in  a  city  that  has  a  reputation  for  being  beautiful, 
thrifty,  and  modern.  One  day's  existence  in  such  a 
city  is  worth  ten  in  a  city  behind  the  times,  with 
no  conveniences  and  no  beauties. 


United  efforts  are  efforts  that  count  for  the  suc 
cess  of  a  project.  A  village  or  city  with  its  officials 
united  for  the  promotion  of  enterprises  of  benefit  is 
the  village  or  city  that  develops  rapidly,  and  makes 
a  desirable  locality  for  homes.  Property,  located 
in  such  a  place  appreciates  in  value. 


Beneficial  public  projects  can  only  be  executed 
where  the  citizens  are  generous,  liberal-minded, 
and  harmonious.  It  pays  to  locate  in  a  community 
that  has  a  reputation  for  concord. 


100  SOCIAL  TALKS. 

The  usefulness  of  the  press  is  well  il~ 
(Usefulness  lustrated  during  the  conventions 
of  which  are  so  common  in  America. 

1'ress.  Often  the  sessions  of  a  convention  are 
poorly  attended  by  those  even  to  whom  the  proceed 
ings  are  of  interest.  The  age  is  a  busy  one  for 
people  of  nearly  all  classes,  and  there  is  frequently 
but  little  opportunity  for  attendance  at  a  conven 
tion.  All  the  important  events  are  chronicled  by 
the  public  press.  The  press  thus  furnishes  an  au 
dience  of  thousands  of  people  for  a  convention. 

This  audience  furnished  by  the  press  is  not  one 
made  dormant  and  inattentive  by  a  poorly  ventila 
ted  assembly-room.  It  is  one  refreshed,  rested  from 
the  day's  occupation,  an  audience  in  the  peace  and 
quietude  of  home. 

Such  an  enormous  audience  could  not  be  accom 
modated  by  all  the  ch  arches  and  halls  of  a  city. 
So  fitting  an  audience  could  be  secured  in  no  other 
way,  for  some  men  and  woman  who  would  not  step 
foot  into  the  convention  of  a  society  holding  views 
opposed  to  their  own,  would  yet  read  the  press  re 
ports.  An  audience  so  susceptible  of  influences 
could  never  be  gathered,  for,  the  home  is  the  spot 
where  the  most  convincing  and  most  lasting  im 
pressions  are  made. 

Intelligent  people  confess  the  power  of  the  press. 
Only  the  unintelligent  refuse  to  recognize  the  great 
value  of  newspapers,  and  that  is  the  newspaper's  best 
recommendation,  the  most  convincing  evidence  of 
the  newspaper's  usefulness. 


WEALTH  AND  NEWSPAPERS.  101 

1,1  Newspapers  of  the  metropolis  have 
formed  the  habit  of  giving  glowing 
accounts  of  marriages  occurring  in 


.  .     .      .,. 

wealthy  families. 

To  a  casual  observer,  it  might  at  first  seem  that 
so  much  attention  by  the  public  press  to  the  mar 
riages  among  moneyed  aristocrats,  indicated  a  cater 
ing  to  the  power  of  money,  and  that  it  was  un- 
American. 

Such  is  not  the  case.  In  most  things,  the  great 
metropolitan  dailies  are  conducted  in  the  interests 
of  the  masses  rather  than  in  catering  to  the  favor 
of  the  classes.  Many  of  the  press  accounts  of  these 
marriages,  though  extensive,  yet  ridicule  and  bur 
lesque  the  pomp  and  display  entered  into  in  order 
to  let  the  marriage  be  a  means  of  disclosing  to  the 
public  the  immense  wealth  possessed  by  the  family. 

A  foreign  duke  or  count,  who  figures  as  groom  at 
one  of  these  marriages,  is  so  portrayed  in  these 
accounts,  that  he  is  quite  an  object  of  pity  to  sym 
pathetic  readers. 

Simplicity  and  love  of  sensibleness  are  so  ground 
ed  in  the  hearts  of  the  American  masses,  that  news 
papers  dependent  upon  the  masses  for  patronage, 
can  not  with  impunity  long  advocate  ideas  entertain 
ed  only  by  the  aristocracy  of  wealth. 

Men  of  great  generosity  can  not  of  themselves 
accumulate  great  wealth.  By  nature  one  condition 
precludes  the  other.  Extreme  wealth,  in  most 
instances,  is  a  natural  result  of  extreme  selfishness. 
Selfishness  is  an  attribute  of  ignorance.  Newspa- 


102  SOCIAL  TALKS. 

pers  that  expect  to  continue  publication  in  en 
lightened  America  avoid  all  semblance  of  being 
supporters  of  the  views  of  the  ignorant. 

ft  *  *  «  ft 

As  the  world  grows  better,  the  spirit  of  competi 
tion  does  not  develop  itself  so  much  in  selfishness. 
The  meter  of  the  world's  progress  is  generosity. 


It  has  been  said  that  newspapers  mould  public 
opinion.  In  this  age  men  think  for  themselves. 
The  province  of  the  newspaper  of  to-day  is  to  voice 
public  opinion.  

The  more  popular  the  newspaper,  the  more  firmly 
is  it  enlisted  in  the  support  of  the  cause  of  the  masses. 
The  newspaper  exists  for  everybody.  Everybody's 
support  is  desirable.  The  newspaper  that  realizes 
this  is  the  popular  newspaper. 


In  accomplishing  reforms,  newspapers  benefit  by 
keeping  the  public  aroused  to  the  necessity  of  their 
execution.  After  a  newspaper  has  once  champion 
ed  a  reform,  it  has  nothing  to  lose  and  much  to 
gain  by  being  active  in  its  promotion. 


A  newspaper  to  be  well  estimated,  in  favor 
among  the  masses,  must  champion  correct  ideas, 
honest  principles,  and  it  must  not  take  neutral 
ground  on  important  reforms.  The  reading  public 
think  7and  reason.  A  newspaper  to  be  a  popular 
newspaper  must  be  brave  and  honest. 


AN  INHERENT  TRAIT.  103 

fln  ^nherenf  ^hat  a  contrast  there  is  in  the  pub- 
.  lie  eye  between  the  person  who 

I  rait.  wants  to  sell  something,  and  the  per 
son  who  wants  to  buy  something. 

The  person  with  something  to  sell  is  met  coldly, 
treated  often  disdainfully,  made  painfully  aware  of 
the  value  of  time  to  those  to  whom  he  would  dis 
pose  of  his  wares,  and  finally  dimissed  scornfully  as 
though  he  had  been  an  intruder  upon  their  patience 
and  endurance. 

The  man  who  wants  to  buy  something,  if  he  has 
cash  to  pay  for  his  purchase,  is  quite  another  indi 
vidual.  He  is  received  cordially,  entertained  civilly, 
assured  that  any  amount  of  time  is  most  generously 
at  his  disposal,  and  that  no  labor  would  be  regret 
ted  providing  the  proper  and  satisfactory  article 
for  the  purchaser,  the  person  who  has  money  to 
pay,  can  be  secured. 

Becently  the  writer  had  business  with  some  pro 
fessional  men.  We  had  nothing  to  sell,  rather  our 
good  opinion  given  or  withheld  might  profit  or  in 
jure  the  men  we  interviewed.  They  knew  it.  A 
man  at  our  side,  seeking  an  interview  with  the  same 
individuals,  had  books  to  sell.  He  was  not  a  wel 
come  caller.  We  were.  There  was  a  peculiar 
harsh,  grating,  stony  tone  for  him;  a  soft,  gentle, 
persuading,  comforting,  and  sympathetic  tone  for 
us.  It  was  difficult  to  find  any  chair  at  all  for  him. 
It  was  difficult  to  find  a  chair  sufficiently  easy, 
appropriate,  and  comfortable  for  us.  He  was  quickly 
informed  where  all  the  other  professional  men,  to 


104  SOCIAL  TALKS, 

whom  there  was  a  ghost  of  a  shadow  of  a  chance  of 
his  selling  books,  resided.  We  were  led  to  believe  that 
these  other  individualswere  practically  a  nonentity 
in  that  city,  that  the  spot  where  we  then  were  was 
that  about  which  all  affairs  of  importance,  all  vital 
events  clustered.  The  book  agent  passed  out  stabbed 
with  neglect,  irony,  sarcasm.  We  went  regretted, 
condoled,  lamented.  It  was  his  Waterloo.  It  Was  our 
Austerlitz.  It  was  his  chagrin.  It  was  our  triumph, 

The  reason  was  not  because  he  was  our  inferior 
physically,  mentally,  or  morally.  The  reason  was 
simply  in  this,  that  he  had  favors  to  ask  while  we 
had  favors  to  grant.  Because  he  wanted  something 
while  we  wanted  nothing. 

We  may  regret  this  phase  of  human  nature  exist 
ing,   but  it  is  prevalent  here,   everywhere.     We 
portray  the  fact.     Let  philanthropists,  if  there  are 
any  not  themselves  effected,  apply  the  remedy. 
$  %  ®  ®  $ 

To  be  rude  in  manners  is  in  no  way  against  the 
morals.  Boorish  people  may  be  sincere  people. 

Extreme  polish  is  often  accompanied  by  insin 
cerity  of  manner  and  purpose.  Insincerity  is  a 
quality  that  indicates  a  low  standard  of  morality, 

Sincerity  is  a  quality  to  be  admired.  It  is  a  quality 
to  be  instilled,  cultivated,  developed.  No  feature 
of  the  character  is  more  evident  than  sincerity,  no 
feature  adds  more  to  its  beauty.  To  be  sincere  is 
to  be  honored  and  respected. 


HINTS.  105 

*..  There  are  many  things  to  be  said  in  favor 

**•  of  making   home   attractive.     It   is  the 

nature  of  all  people  to  get  away  from  the  unattrac 
tive  and  unpleasant.  An  untidy,  uninviting,  un 
comfortable  home  is  often  the  cause  of  Sabbath  des 
ecration.  Woman  no  doubt  may  have  a  broad 
sphere  of  accomplishment  in  public  good,  but  to 
her  home  she  owes  her  first  duty. 


There  were  lady  delegates  in  a  recent  political 
convention.  Pessimists  will  now  frown  and  pro 
claim  that  politics  have  entered  the  home  and  will 
desecrate  and  soil  it.  Optimists  will  now  smile 
and  avow  that  the  home  has  entered  politics  and 
will  improve  and  cleanse  them.  There  are  two 
sides  to  most  questions,  and,  as  a  man  thinketh,  so 
is  he.  

No  doubt  Li  Hung  Chang  is  a  close  observer,  and 
that  his  remark  to  the  effect  that  American  women 
are  most  beautiful  is  correct.  Bat  American 
women  must  not  become  vain  owing  to  their  beau 
ty.  Woman's  chief  aim  should  be  to  cultivate 
goodness.  The  great  Napoleon  said,  "A  beautiful 
woman  pleases  the  eye;  a  good  woman  pleases  the 
heart;  the  one  is  a  jewel,  the  other  is  a  treasure." 


American  young  women  can  not  be  too  careful 
as  to  the  society  they  select.  Those  with  whom 
they  once  associate  are  the  grade  with  which  they 
must  ever  be  classed.  This  is  not  just  but  it  is  true. 


106  SOCIAL  TALKS. 

<>  i  •  The  general  conference  of  one  of  the 
Christian  churches  will  not  have  its 
Sabbath  school  superintendents  smoke.  Without 
a  doubt  the  reason  is  because  superintendents  are 
supposed  to  be  models  for  children.  But  fathers  in 
fluence  children  more  than  Sabbath  school  superin 
tendents,  so  should  fathers  not  smoke?  There  is  no 
man  but  that  influences  in  a  measure  some  child. 
So  should  no  man  smoke?  Ought  men  to  smoke? 

The  earliest  historical  record  of  tobacco  smoking 
was  left  by  Columbus,  He  said,  that  the  Indians  on 
the  various  islands,  which  he  discovered  in  the  New 
World  had  a  peculiar  habit  of  rolling  up  the  dried 
leaf  of  a  certain  plant  which  grew  there,  and,  after 
lighting  one  end,  drew  the  smoke  into  the  mouth 
and  lungs.  We  get  our  habit  of  tobacco  smoking 
from  the  Indian.  We  have  civilized  the  Indian 
much.  Has  he  contaminated  us  some? 

But  little  is  said  on  this  subject  because  it  is  un 
popular  to  say  much  on  it.  Most  men  smoke.  They 
formed  the  habit  when  boys,  and  now  they  don't 
care  to  be  preached  to  about  it.  Intelligent  smok 
ers  admit  at  once  that  it  is  a  troublesome  habit,  but 
they  excuse  it  for  themselves  on  the  gronnd  that 
they  can  stop  at  any  time. 

No  one  claims  that  it  makes  a  man  strong,  or 
fat,  or  more  profound  mentally,  or  better  morally, 
For  a  long  time  railroad  companies  have  realized 
that  they  would  lose  patronage  if  they  allowed 
smoking  in  the  regular  coaches,  and  so  all  trains 
have  a  car  especially  for  smokers. 


SMOKING.  107 

Some  men  and  most  women  do  not  smoke.  To 
many  of  them  tobacco  smoke  is  unpleasant.  Men 
of  culture  who  smoke  are  regardful  of  the  rights  of 
others.  Men  of  refinement  do  not  smoke  in  the 
presence  of  those  to  whom  tobacco  smoke  is  disa 
greeable. 

*  $  &  &  * 

Of  all  habits  that  of  smoking  is  the  most  uni 
versal  among  all  classes.  The  habit  is  as  common 
among  civilized  nations  as  among  the  semi-civilized 
and  barbarous. 


One  of  the  features  of  the  custom  of  smoking  is 
that  no  one  ever  forms  the  habit  in  mid-life  or  old 
age.  The  habit  of  smoking  is  always  acquired  in 
boyhood,  and  the  boy  who  does  not  contract  the 
habit  is  the  man  who  does  not  smoke. 


In  Mexico,  it  is  as  respectable  for  women  to 
smoke  as  for  men.  Mexican  women  do  not  hesitate 
to  take  advantage  of  this  liberty  which  custom 
allots  them,  and  in  Mexico  the  pipe  and  cigarette 
are  smoked  by  women  young  and  old. 

Some  Christian  churches  forbid  its  members 
smoking.  Others  take  neutral  ground  on  that 
question,  but  indirectly  discourage  the  habit, 
Christian  churches  that  have  their  origin  since  the 
reformation,  are  those  most  strict  in  condemning 
the  custom. 


108  SOCIAL  TALKS 

~  It  is  said  to  be  a  trait  of  young 

Contentment.  ,        ..  ,   .    ,,     /, 

people  to  live  much  in  the  future. 

We  know  that  mature  people  dwell  much  in  the 
past.  Is  it  not  a  trait  of  most  people  to  consider 
some  other  town,  city,  or  locality  from  the  one 
where  they  reside,  to  be  more  desirable? 

Owing  to  dissatisfaction  with  the  present  time 
and  place,  do  not  many  of  all  classes  lose  much  of 
the  enjoyment  of  life? 

Because  a  person  had  much  pleasure  in  youth 
doesn't  mean  that  he  must  ever  dwell  on  that 
happiness,  and  not  enter  into  the  joys  appropri 
ate  to  mid-life  and  old  age.  Who  wants  to  find 
his  greatest  enjoyment  in  doing  the  same  thing 
throughout  all  the  periods  of  his  existence?  If 
parties,  socials,  excursions,  and  picnics  were  the 
principal  diversions  in  youth,  then  how  fitting  that 
in  later  years,  one  should  find  most  amusement  in 
reading,  in  studying  nature,  in  loving  and  caring 
for  children,  and  in  quiet  meditation.  Social  gay- 
eties  are  appropriate  for  the  young.  The  young 
are  appropriate  for  social  gayeties.  Home  plea 
sures  are  fitted  for  the  matured.  The  matured  are 
fitted  for  home  pleasures.  There  is  no  use  and  no 
sense  in  anybody  being  discontented  with  the  present. 

The  present  time  is  not  only  a  good  time  for  any 
person,  young  or  old,  to  live,  the  present  place  is  a 
good  place  in  which  to  live. 

But  somebody  says,  "My  city  has  not  the  advan 
tages  or  conveniences  of  some  cities."  That  is  un 
doubtedly  true,  but  how  is  that  city  to  acquire 


CONTENTMENT.  109 

advantages  unless  there  be  somebody  to  fight  for 
it?  Who  wants  to  live  in  a  city  where  there  is 
nothing  for  which  to  strive?  Who  wants  to  be  so 
selfish  as  to  enjoy  advantages  which  he  did  riot  help 
secure? 

To  have  low  aims,  or  to  have  no  aims,  is  the  worst 
of  crimes.  A  person  who  does  not  want  to  improve 
or  help  to  improve  his  surroundings,  both  private 
and  public,  is  a  poor  specimen  of  a  citizen.  There 
is  but  little  genuine  pleasure  in  possessing.  The 
real  pleasure  is  in  acquiring. 

No  doubt,  of  all  the  ages  that  have  existed,  this  is 
the  most  intelligent,  the  most  progressive,  the  most 
enlightened,  cultured,  civilized,  refined.  No  doubt, 
of  all  nations  in  the  world,  America  is  the  most 
genial,  sunny,  healthful,  as  well  as  the  nation  most 
fully  endowed  with  the  curious  and  the  novel. 

This  is  the  best  age  and  this  is  the  best  spot  in 
which  to  live.     Come  down  to  the  present  time  and 
place  and  be  content  to  live  now  and  here. 
*  *  *  *  it 

This  is  a  changeable  old  world.  The  man  who 
doesn't  make  the  most  of  the  present  is  short-sight 
ed.  The  past  is  made  up  of  the  present,  and  any 
one  who  has  not  a  happy  present,  later  can  not 
look  back  upon  a  pleasant  past,  The  place  where 
-enjoyment  rules  one  day,  the  next  grief  may  reign. 
Make  the  most  of  the  present  days.  Don't  look  too 
much  to  the  future,  you  may  never  reach  it.  Live 
for  the  present,  and  to  be  happy,  and  to  make  others 
happy.  Clod  scorns  a  pessimist. 


HO  SOCIAL  TALKS. 

q^e  -I*     3      From  dogs  and  donkeys,  up  through 
the   animal   kingdom   to   men   and 
of  tlje  fcige.    m0nkeys,   we   find    an   aristocracy. 
Aristocratic  dogs  always  associate  with  aristocratic 
dogs,    aristocratic    donkeys  with   others  of   their 
class,  and  men  with  a  competence,  accustomed  to  the 
easy  side  of  life,  to  good  living,  to  comforts,  to  many 
pleasures,  perhaps  luxuries,  find  their  highest  en 
joyment  in  association  with  others  of  their  stamp. 

The  Germans  have  a  saying  which,  rendered  into 
English,  signifies  about  this:  "Likeness  of  tastes  is 
the  chief  bond  of  friendship."  It  is  easy  for  people 
with  similar  thoughts,  similar  tastes,  similar  am 
bitions,  to  be  good  friends.  Aristocracy  is  at  home 
with  aristocracy,  intelligence  with  intelligence, 
simplicity  with  simplicity. 

If  all  people  followed  their  own  inclination,  they 
would  never  associate  with  any  except  those  of  like 
conditions  to  themselves,  and  so  they  would  see 
and  hear  but  little  new,  and  thus  learn  but  little, 
acquire  but  little  in  thought  and  habit  and  charac 
ter. 

No  person  is  more  attractive  than  one  living  with 
aristocratic  surroundings  and  opportunities  for  the 
gratification  of  aristocratic  tastes,  but  who  has 
acquired  simple  customs  and  simple  ways  from 
association  with  simplicity.  Intelligence  can  find 
its  greatest  object  lessons  in  children.  Ignorance 
can  imbibe  most  in  the  presence  of  intelligence. 

Any  medium  as  the  press,  the  pulpit,  the  public 
school,  the  dramatic  or  musical  stage,  which  gives 


THE  NEED  OF  THE  AGE.  Ill 

people  of  different  conditions  a  knowledge  of  each 
other,  which,  by  making  people  of  different  classes 
acquainted,  thus  improving  their  character,  intelli 
gence,  and  disposition,  is  a  public  benefactor. 

&  %  &  $  & 

We  can  only  form  a  correct  estimate  of  ourselves 
and  neighbors  when  we  have  a  chance  of  drawing 
intellectual  and  moral  comparisons. 


War  among  civilized  nations  is  becoming  un 
known.  Even  nations  differing  in  language,  owing 
to  the  printing  press  and  telegraph,  are  yet  well 
acquainted,  and  arising  disputes  are  settled  by  ar 
bitration.  

As  states  and  nations  know  each  other  better, 
the  one  feature  of  surprise  is  that  they  differ  so 
little  in  manners  of  living  and  social  customs.  The 
desires  and  ambitions  of  humanity  are  about  the 
same  the  world  over,  and  under  similar  conditions 
human  nature  is  the  same  regardless  of  race  or  color. 


Public  speakers  get  their  greatest  inspiration  from 
addressing  audiences  in  sympathy  with  their  views. 
It  is  a  pleasure  for  a  speaker  to  talk  to  such  au 
diences.  It  is  a  pleasure  for  such  audiences  to  listen. 
The  greatest  good,  however,  does  not  spring  from 
an  assembly  where  opinions  between  speaker  and 
audience  are  mutual,  but  from  an  assemblage  com 
posed  of  a  speaker  in  possession  of  great  truths, 
and  of  hearers  to  convince,  convict,  and  convert. 


112  SOCIAL  TALKS. 

How  many  sources  are  at  work  on  every 
hand  to  make  the  old  world  better. 
Churches,  schools,  newspapers,  literary  societies, 
most  musical  and  dramatical  entertainments,  lect 
ures,  elevating  conversation,  all  these  and  more 
are  mediums  through  which  good  thoughts  are  ex 
pressed  and  disseminated. 

It  is  a  sad  thing,  and  too  common  to  be  ignored, 
that  often  some  of  these  elements  for  good,  through 
prejudice  or  through  jealousy,  are  at  variance. 

Why  are  the  forces  of  evil  always  so  thoroughly 
united,  while  the  forces  of  good  are  often  so  sadly 
disagreeing?  Ministers,  teachers,  lecturers,  musi 
cians,  and  good  actors  and  authors  ought  to  be  better 
acquainted.  They  ought,  without  arrogance  or 
bigotry,  to  work  more  in  harmony,  that  they  might 
accomplish  greater  things  for  the  progress  of  the 
age,  and  the  upbuilding  of  humanity. 

Had  Bacon  and  Schiller,  and  Hugo  and  Dickens, 
known  pedagogues  and  pastors  better,  pedagogues 
and  pastors  would  have  fared  better  in  the  hands  of 
the  great  authors.  Would  teachers,  secular  and  reli 
gious,  to-day,  not  shut  themselves  away  from  the 
great  dramas  and  symphonies  of  Goethe  and  Les- 
sing,  Hayden  and  Gottschalk,  the  stage,  which  in 
this  and  all  former  ages,  has  exerted  a  wonderful 
povver  to  promote  virtue,  to  implant  noble  ideas, 
to  inspire  generous  and  self-sacrificing  deeds,  would 
be  represented  in  a  better  light  by  the  instructors 
of  mind  and  morals. 

There  is  great  need  for  a  better   acquaintance,  a 


UNITY.  113 


more  complete  understanding,  between  the  philan 
thropic  agencies  of  the  age.  This  understanding 
the  modern  inventions  for  easy  and  rapid  commu 
nication  are  bringing  about. 

*  k  *  *  * 

It  is  not  a  bad  plan  to  name  our  blessings  and 
meditate  on  them.  It  adds  enjoyment  and  con 
tentment. 

Any  one  discontented  and  unhappy  should  remem 
ber  that  it  is  the  want  of  motive  that  makes  most 
people  miserable. 

America  is  doing  most  for  national  unity,  because 
the  great  inventions  of  the  age  are  American.  By 
her  inventive  genius  America  inspires  respect  and 
fear.  When  nations  respect  and  fear  each  other, 
they  are  content  to  exist  without  conflict. 


At  an  electrical  exhibition  in  New  York  City,  the 
governor  of  the  state  touched  a  golden  key  which 
discharged  simultaneously-  cannon  in  some  of  the 
principal  cities  of  America,  as  also  one  in  London, 
England.  Europeans  do  not  know  but  that,  should 
they  ever  be  bold  enough  to  declare  war  on  the 
United  States,  our  inventors  would  rig  up  a  ma 
chine,  so  that  when  the  president  touched  a  button, 
all  their  armies  and  navies  would  be  annihilated  at 
one  discharge.  There  is  pleasure  in  the  thought 
that  we  are  living  in  the  safest  age  that  has  ever 
existed. 


114  SOCIAL  TALKS. 


GenerosHv  ^Jie  ^a^n£  °^  a  corner  stone  of  an 
institution  of  mercy  and  of  charity 
is  a  significant  event.  Every  motive  which  prompts 
the  construction  of  such  an  institution  is  a  gener 
ous  motive.  During  the  Middle  Ages,  every  nation, 
every  church  denomination,  every  clan  or  sect  was 
for  itself.  Almshouses,  hospitals,  and  sanitariums 
were  unknown. 

To-day  America  sends  ship  loads  of  food  to  starv 
ing  Ireland  and  Russia.  Christianity  builds  hospitals 
for  the  natives  of  India.  The  state  erects  alms- 
houses  for  the  poor  and  destitute.  Protestant  and 
Catholic  found  sanitariums  for  the  sick  and  suffering, 

Every  person  who  can  assist  in  a  project  for  the 
benefit  of  others,  benefits  himself.  He  cultivates 
generosity,  and  generosity  is  the  essence  of  all  vir 
tues.  The  only  possible  way  of  transferring  earthly 
riches  to  heaven  is  to  give  them  away  while  living 
to  assist  noble  projects.  Learn  how  to  be  generous, 
Laud  generosity.  Practice  generosity. 
&  &  &  %>  $ 

The  world  is  often  painted  worse  than  it  is, 
There  are  a  few  bad  people,  but  there  are  many  kind 
and  affectionate  hearts,  that  think  of  the  safety 
and  happiness  of  others  first,  and  of  their  own  wel 
fare  and  pleasure  last. 

Among  the  masses,  where  natures  have  not  been 
perverted  with  the  greed  engendered  by  the  posses 
sion  of  excessive  wealth,  there  is  more  generosity 
than  selfishness. 


THE  ARISTOCRAT.  115 

Aristocracy  is  not  a  comfort.  It  is 
not  a  convenience.  It  is  not  a  pleas- 
ure  It  does  not  pay  for  this  worid. 

It  is  in  nowise  a  preparation  for  the  next. 

An  aristocratic  person  travels.  The  day-coach, 
though  comfortable  enough,  brings  him  in  contact 
with  common  people.  Aristocracy  is  easily  soiled, 
and  he  is  obliged  to  be  to  the  extra  expense  and 
inconvenience  of  arranging  for  accommodation  in 
a  more  expensive  coach  which  is  attached  to  the 
same  train,  and  which  brings  him  to  his  destination 
no  earlier.  In  countries  where  refreshment  rooms 
are  marked  first,  second,  and  third  class,  through 
accident  the  aristocrat  enters  a  second  class  res 
taurant,  and  though  the  food  is  as  good  as  any,  he 
is  obliged  to  leave  with  haste  to  protect  his  aristoc 
racy.  He  is  hungry  and  sees  fruits  and  ginger 
bread  temptingly  displayed  at  the  street  corner. 
He  can't  buy  and  eat  like  an  ordinary  mortal.  He 
would  soil  his  aristocracy.  He  visits  art  galleries 
and  museums  and  might  learn  much,  but  an  aristo 
crat  never  converses  with  ordinary  people  unless 
lie  addresses  them  as  servants,  and  in  republics,  ordi 
nary  people  will  not  be  made  servile,  and  so  the 
aristocrat  struts  in  silence  and  in  ignorance. 

At  home  the  aristocrat  is  more  uncomfortable 
than  abroad.  He  must  be  at  great  trouble  and  ex 
pense  to  locate  his  residence  on  a  street  where  no 
common  people  reside.  With  a  home  near  ordi 
nary  people,  his  aristocracy  would  be  destroyed. 
If  an  ordinary  person  moves  into  his  neighborhood, 


116  SOCIAL  TALKS. 

the  aristocrat  must  ignore  him.  To  protect  his 
aristocracy,  his  association  must  be  entirely  with 
people  like  himself. 

The  chief  possession  of  such  people,  aside  from  a 
little  wordly  wealth  which  creates  theexclusiveness, 
is  their  aristocracy.  Kind  and  loving  and  tender 
hearts  are  unknown  to 'them,  and  the  financial  re 
verse  which  deprives  the  aristocrat  of  his  wealth, 
also  isolates  him  from  every  former  associate. 

An  aristocrat  would  be  worse  off  in  heaven  than 
at  home  or  abroad.  The  King  of  heaven,  when  on 
earth,  pronounced  his  worst  curses  on  aristocrats. 
The  King  of  heaven  taught  that  the  only  way  for 
one  to  be  great  was  to  become  lowly,  for  one  to  be 
exalted  was  to  humble  himself,  for  one  to  inherit 
heaven  was  to  become  like  a  child  which  knows  no 
aristocracy.  The  King  of  heaven  not  only  associa 
ted  with  common  people,  he  became  their  servant, 
ministered  unto  them. 

The  only  person  who  truly  enjoys  earth  is  the 
one  with  no  aristocratic  tendencies.  He  associates 
with  humanity,  loves  humanity,  and  is  loved  by  hu 
manity.  He  not  only  enjoys  all  the  blessings  of  this 
life,  he  need  not  dread  death,  for  love  to  one's  fellow- 
man  is  the  great  essential  toward  fitness  for  heaven. 

The  aristocrat,  deprived  of  the  pleasures  of  earth, 
is  debarred  from  the  joys  of  heaven.  Isolated  from 
humanity,  conversion  can't  reach  him,  the  gospel 
can't  reform  him.  He  goes  through  the  world  de 
tested  and  is  unknown  in  heaven.  The  aristocrat 
is  an  object  of  pity. 


MOTHERHOOD.  117 

A  paper  published  in  New  York 
City  recently  remarked:  "The  look 
on  any  married  woman's  face  should  convince  the 
girls  that  the  men  are  not  worth  the  exertion  neces 
sary  to  catch  them." 

Do  all  the  smiles  and  beauty  of  expression  rest 
upon  the  contenances  of  unmarried  women?  Do 
trial  and  trouble,  care  and  sorrow  stamp  the  coun 
tenances  of  married  women,  and  render  them  living 
warnings  to  the  unmarried  to  avoid  matrimony? 

Here  is  a  young  woman  in  love.  The  object  of 
her  affection,  as  she  supposes,  is  manly,  brave,  and 
true.  It  is  the  happy  spring  time.  Apple  blossoms 
and  lilacs  mingle  their  perfume.  The  joyous  rob- 
bins  call  to  each  other  among  the  budding  branches. 
It  is  the  season  when  love  responds  to  love,  when 
every  tendency  of  the  girl's  nature  is  to  pledge  life 
long,  endearing  affection  and  constancy  to  her  am 
bitious  lover. 

At  this  criticial  period  of  the  girl's  existence, 
comes  the  spectre  of  the  sad  countenances  of  mar 
ried  women  to  haunt  and  disturb  her.  The  girl  hesi 
tates.  Hesitancy  brings  other  and  graver  doubts. 
Hesitancy  brings  perplexity.  Perplexity  brings  re 
gret.  Regret  brings  the  conclusion,  that  it  is  not 
yet  too  late  to  change.  She  rejects  her  gallant  lover. 
She  turns  from  the  highway  of  matrimony  to  the 
byway  of  single-blessedness,  warned  by  the  sorrow 
ing,  sorrowful  countenance  of  the  married  woman. 

There  are  some  now  who  draw  a  sigh  of  relief. 
They  depict  a  deep,  dark  chasm  which  the  young 


118  SOCIAL  TALKS. 

woman  has  escaped.  They  picture  a  life  of  ease 
and  pleasure  and  happiness  upon  which  she  enters. 
She  is  a  new  woman.  She  has  placed  love  under 
her  feet.  She  serves  not  nature.  Nature  serves 
her.  She  is  a  heroine. 

Every  decision  has  its  attendant  consequences 
and  so  has  this  of  the  heroic  young  woman.  Her 
countenance  must  be  moulded  by  the  years  as  well 
as  that  of  the  matron.  The  thoughts  shape  the 
countenance.  Here  is  the  metallic  woman  who 
has  thrust  love  from  her  life,  and  loveliness  can 
not  find  expression  in  her  features.  Maternal  cares 
and  anxieties  are  unknown,  and  a  mother's  tender 
smile,  the  light  that  lies  in  mother's  eyes  can  never 
beautify  her  face.  Her  thoughts  are  for  herself. 
Her  face  shows  it.  Her  deeds  are  for  herself.  Her 
features  indicate  it.  Her  life  is  for  herself.  Her 
countenance  reveals  it. 

If  the  young  woman  of  the  world  will  again  stop 
to  consider  the  face  of  the  matron,  she  will  find 
that  nature  deals  kindliest  with  those  who  serve 
her.  The  face  of  the  matron  is  not  gay,  but  affec 
tion  and  sympathy  have  transformed  it  into  a  coun 
tenance  kind  and  noble.  Generosity  and  devotion 
have  moulded  the  matron's  features  with  expres 
sions  loving  and  lovable. 

The  woman  who  thrusts  love  aside  and  lives  for 
the  world,  thrusts  beauty  and  contentment  and 
happiness  from  her,  and  becomes  cold,  heartless, 
and  repulsive.  Cleopatra  put  honest  love  from  her 
heart.  She  became  the  ''Serpent  of  the  Nile." 


MOTHERHOOD.  119 

Elizabeth  drove  affection  from  her  life.  She  be 
came  the  "Capricious,  treacherous,  and  unscrupu 
lous  Queen." 

The  great  women  of  the  world  have  been  moth 
ers.  Victoria,  Queen  of  the  British,  Mary,  the 
mother  of  Washington,  Mary,  the  mother  of  Christ, 
have  placed  a  crown  of  honor  upon  the  brow  of 
motherhood  which  fanatics  of  the  nineteenth  cen 
tury  can  not  remove.  In  all  ages,  the  world  has 
had  great  statesmen  and  noble  warriors,  men  skilled 
is  science  and  in  craft,  yet  he  wrote  truly  who 
wrote  that,  the  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle  is  the 
hand  that  moves  the  world. 


1 


A  Crown  of  Motherhood. 


PATRIOTISM.  121 


TALKS  ON  NATIVE  LAND. 


Pat  "of  m  ^  *s  creditable  that  a  man  l°ve  his 
own  better  than  any  other  nation, 
that  a  man  love  his  own  city  better  than  any  other 
city,  that  he  love  his  own  family  better  than 
other  families.  Clod  implanted  this  trait  in  the 
hearts  of  true  men,  that  nations,  cities,  and  homes 
might  be  protected  and  preserved,  for  man  will 
defend  that  which  is  dear  to  him,  that  which  he 
loves.  .  . 

This  is  nature,  and  it  is  better  for  a  man  to  live 
and  love  and  struggle  in  harmony  with  nature. 
The  man  out  of  harmony  with  nature  is  out  of  har 
mony  with  earth.  He  is  out  of  harmony  with  God, 
for,  "The  works  of  nature  are  the  thoughts  of  God." 

Every  man  should  have  a  country,  a  city,  a  home 
dearer  to  him  than  others.  He  should  be  ready  at 
all  times  to  defend  them. 

An  inhabitant  of  America,  who  resides  here,  but 
prefers  Europe,  is  out  of  harmony  with  his  sur 
roundings  and  should  migrate  to  Europe.  A  resi 
dent  of  one  state,  who  stays  there,  but  admires 
another  state  more,  is  foolish  that  he  doesn't  move. 
A  citizen  of  one  city,  who  is  glad  when  some  other 


122  TALKS  ON  NATIVE  LAND. 

city  carries  off  the  honors  would  enjoy  life  better  if 
he  changed  his  location. 

It  is  right  to  believe  our  merchants,  our  churches, 
our  climate,  our  papers,  our  lawyers,  doctors,  bar 
bers  and  babies  superior  to  any,  and  one  ought  to 
take  pride,  experience  satisfaction  and  pleasure  in 
this  belief.  One  ought  not  to  blame  an  Englishman 
for  being  wrapped  up  in  England,  but  one  ought  to 
blame  an  American  for  liking  England  better,  es 
pecially  if  he  continues  to  reside  in  America. 

There  should  be  common  sense  and  honesty  in 
all  things.  A  man  who  truly  loves  his  city  or  his 
country  will  labor  to  improve  them,  as  a  man  who 
truly  loves  his  home  will  labor  to  improve  that. 

A  man  does  not  love  his  city  who  countenances 
public  officials  who  do  not  perform  their  duties, 
officials  who  do  not  care  for  and  improve  his  city. 
A  man  proves  his  love  for  any  project,  any  city, 
any  country,  by  what  he  is  willing  to  do  for  it — not 
by  what  he  is  willing  to  do  for  himself. 

Nearly  always  the  first  element  in  any  beneficial 
public  act  is  bravery.  A  man  who  is  not  brave 
enough  to  fight  against  inaction  on  the  part  of 
officials,  if  necessary  to  suggest  to  them  their 
duties,  and  to  see  that  they  perform  them,  is  not 
brave  enough  to  be  a  very  desirable  citizen  of  any 
city  or  community  which  desires  modern  institu 
tions,  modern  conditions,  and  modern  men. 

The  element  upon  which  the  success  of  most 
public  enterprises  depends  is  concentration  of 
energies.  The  rebellion  might  have  become  a 


PATRIOTISM.  123 

thirty  years'  war  had  Grant  not  have  united  and 
concentrated  the  Union  armies.  Napoleon  was 
never  defeated  till  he  divided  his  forces.  The  en 
terprises  of  greatest  benefit  to  any  country  have 
been  accomplished  when  the  citizens  of  that  coun 
try  were  united,  and  they  have  only  been  willing  to 
compromise  differences  and  unite  owing  to  their 
love  of  country. 

So  applaud  love  of  country,  a  sensible  love  which 
inspires  us  to  curse  the  bad  as  well  as  to  praise  the 
good,  a  sensible  love  which  inspires  us  to  work  for 
our  country  as  well  as  to  talk  for  it,  a  love  which 
inspires  us  to  unite  for  our  country  and  oppose  the 
men  who  would  hold  an  office  and  not  fill  the  office. 
Above  all,  applaud  the  love  which  inspires  us  to 
honor  the  man  who  honors  the_uafcitm,  be  he  public 
official  or  private  benefactor. 


No  love  is  purer,  more  sacred,  more  to  be  esteem 
ed  than  love  of  native  land.  Love  of  country  is  at 
the  foundation  of  civilized  existence. 


The  idea  that  all  patriotism  in  America  has  be 
come  extinct  is  a  false  idea,  and  to  teach  or  circu 
late  false  ideas  is  a  crime.  The  more  enlightened 
a  nation  becomes,  the  more  its  people  realize  the 
source  of  their  happiness  and  prosperity,  the  more 
they  revere  the  men  to  whom  they  owe  their  free 
dom.  Is  not  this  generation  of  Americans  as  en 
lightened  as  any  former? 


124  TALKS  ON  NATIVE  LAND. 

The   dispatches  said:     "The  Cuban 
if    Sltl     women   fought  like  furies,  hacking 

lo)omen        an(^  wounding  the  Spaniards." 

Woman  has  ever  held  a  reputation 
for  warfare,  but  being  weaker  physically,  in  all 
ages  her  tongue  has  been  considered  her  natural 
weapon.  Of  course  the  tongue  is  the  mind's  me 
dium  of  communication  with  the  external  world, 
and  so  woman  has  really  been  feared  owing  to  her 
power  of  thought,  owing  to  her  superior  mental  ca 
pacity.  That  woman  being  weaker  physically, 
should,  during  the  centuries,  develop  intellectually 
and  morally  is  most  natural.  That  Cuban  women 
who  have  endured  more  physical  hardships,  and  un 
doubtedly  developed  more  in  physical  than  in  mental 
capacities,  should,  when  goaded  by  the  atrocities 
of  a  foreign  invader,  take  the  field  and  exhibit 
physical  prowess,  bravery  in  war,  is  not  surprising. 

The  Amazon  river  takes  its  name  from  the  na 
tive  women  on  its  banks,  who,  early  in  the  history 
of  the  new  world,  united  and  assisted  their  hus 
bands  in  the  defense  of  their  homes  from  the  in 
vading  Spanish.  History  repeats  itself,  and  again 
bands  of  armed  women,  Amazons  who  are  Cuban 
women,  have  fought  the  invading  Spanish. 

Existing  conditions  do  not  change  quickly,  but 
they  change.  The  world  has  seen  many  centuries 
during  which  might  made  right.  With  1776  a  new 
era  began  to  dawn.  Then  right  made  might,  and 
right  made  sufficient  might  to  overthrow  injustice 
and  oppression,  and  found  a  nation  where  right  at 


PATRIOTISM  OF  WOMEN.  125 

all  times  might  be  superior  to  might.  In  1776, 
America  taught  kings  and  emperors  a  lesson  which 
ever  since  has  made  them  more  subservient  to  right, 
and  has  caused  them  to  be  more  cautious  as  to  how 
they  exercised  might  over  their  subjects,  over  their 
tributaries. 

The  degree  of  oppression  exercised  by  monarchial 
rulers  has  depended  upon  the  distance  at  which 
the  seat  of  their  governments  has  been  located 
from  the  United  States.  That  a  tributary  so  near 
as  Cuba  should  suffer  injustice  is  no  doubt  owing 
to  the  supposed  dormant  condition  of  Uncle  Sam. 

Perhaps  this  physical  exhibition  of  woman's  pa 
triotism  in  this  age  was  needed  to  arouse  the  gal 
lantry  of  republics.  If  the  women  of  Cuba  accom 
plished  this,  then  their  taking  the  field  and  contend 
ing  as  men  was  not  in  vain. 


Republics  are  better  than  monarchies  because  in 
republics  leadership,  the  right  to  govern,  does  not 
depend  upon  the  family  in  which  one  is  born,  but 
upon  personal  endeavor,  honorable  achievement. 


There  are  more  republics  in  the  world  than  mon 
archies.  After  the  United  States  became  free 
many  countries  changed  their  form  of  government 
and  became  republics.  Most  republics  were  formed 
by  colonies  rebelling  from  the  mother  country. 
The  freedom  enjoyed  by  the  citizens  of  monarchies 
is  due  in  the  main  to  the  fear  inspired  by  republics. 


126  TALKS  ON  NATIVE  LAND. 

GL  Setter  America  might  be  considered  the  land 
of  conventions.  In  no  way  is  infor- 
&9e«  mation  on  all  subjects  so  thoroughly 
disseminated  as  through  discussions,  public  and  pri 
vate,  that  occur  in  connection  with  conventions. 
In  improvement  and  progress,  one  section  of  this 
nation  differs  but  little  from  another.  That  is 
because  one  section  is  well  informed  concerning 
the  conditions  in  another. 

At  the  present,  this  is  not  so  evident  in  foreign 
lands.  In  passing  from  one  province  to  another  of 
a  European  country,  the  change  in  intelligence  and 
customs  is  great.  That  is  owing  to  the  lack  of 
frequent  public  gatherings  for  the  discussion  of 
public  questions.  This  dissimilarity  in  the  degree 
of  advancement  is  even  more  evident  in  Asiatic 
countries,  where  there  are  almost  rjo  means  of  rapid 
communication,  and  no  public  press. 

During  the  last  three  centuries,  since  the  inven 
tion  of  the  art  of  printing,  the  world  has  made 
greater  improvement  than  during  the  previous 
fifteen  centuries.  The  greatest  strides  in  progress 
have  been  made  since  the  arrival  of  the  electric 
telegraph  and  the  daily  newspaper. 

Men  are  like  animals  in  this  respect.  Those  strange 
to  each  other  are  more  likely  to  engage  in  war 
fare.  Since  railroads,  conventions,  the  public  press, 
the  telegraph,  and  telephone  have  come  into  vogue, 
war  has  become  almost  unknown.  It  is  said  that 
had  the  numerous  railroad  and  telegraph  lines  of 
the  United  States  extended  north  and  south,  instead 


A  BETTER  AGE.  127 

of  east  and  west,  the  civil  war  would  never  have 
occurred. 

In  the  matter  of  assisting  in  the  world's  progress, 
America  may  feel  a  conscious  pride.  Though  dis 
tances  here  are  great,  they  are  completely  over 
come  by  our  system  of  railroads,  telegraph  and  tel 
ephone  lines.  Ours  is  a  land  of  newspapers.  Here 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  climb  so  far  back  into  the 
mountains  that  one  can  not  telephone  out  to  civili 
zation.  It  might  be  better  to  say,  that  in  America 
civilization  has  gone  so  far  back  into  the  mountains, 
it  is  difficult  to  climb  back  beyond  it. 

All  this  makes  a  great  age  in  which  to  live.  Man 
himself  is  transforming  earth  into  heaven.  With 
thorns  and  thistles,  disease  and  death  removed, 
earth  will  make  a  fit  place  for  man  to  spend  eter 
nity.  It  is  Bible,  too,  that  the  righteous  shall 
inherit  the  earth.  This  is  not  improbable,  and  no 
doubt  America  will  be  the  first  land  prepared. 
&  *  &  ®  & 

When  men  erect  barriers  between  themselves 
and  their  fellows,  they  retard  mental  development, 
they  propagate  ignorance. 


In  many  places,  it  is  a  growing  custom  to  remove 
all  intersecting  fences,  and  often  the  lawns  for  an 
entire  block  are  contin  uous.  This  idea  of  cultivating 
neighborly  regard,  friendly  relations  with  one's 
neighbors,  is  commendable.  People  who  can  agree 
in  this  world  will  be  likely  to  get  along  well  to 
gether  in  the  next. 


128  TALKS  ON  NATIVE  LAND. 


republic  of  the 

United  States,  that  it  differs  from  a 
monarchy  in  this,  that  whereas  under 
monarchies,  men  may  be  considered  great  owing 
to  birth,  in  our  republic  no  one  inherits  great 
ness,  that  for  one  to  be  great  here,  he  must  become 
such  through  his  own  deeds.  America  is  thought 
to  be  the  land  where  neither  the  social  advantages 
nor  disadvantages  of  the  ancestors  are  bequeathed 
to  the  child. 

Do  we  so  soon  get  away  from  the  customs  of  mon 
archies  from  which  we  descended  ?  Here  are  the 
press  dispatches  with  the  news  that  a  grandchild  of 
an  ex-president  is  ill.  This  grandchild  has  done 
nothing  to  make  him  of  national  importance. 
Your  child  may  be  a  more  intelligent  one  than 
this  child,  but,  if  he  were  sick,  the  information 
wouldn't  be  telegraphed  across  the  continent  or 
cabled  to  Europe. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  any  supposed  greatness 
about  this  child  came  through  the  accident  of  birth, 
through  its  being  the  grandchild  of  a  great  man. 
That  is  not  a  sufficient  reason  for  greatness.  Such 
a  method  of  acquiring  greatness  is  not  American. 
It  is  not  just  to  other  boys.  It  puts  a  premium  on 
inherited  aristocracy,  and  discourages  personal 
manly  exertion  and  achievement.  It  makes  many 
American  boys  feel  that  they  can't  be  great  be 
cause  grandpa  was  not  great,  that  their  misfortune 
is  in  being  born  where  they  are. 

Our  declaration  of  independence,  said  to  be  the 


INHERITED  GREATNESS.  129 

greatest  human  document  ever  constructed,  de 
clares  that  all  men  are  created  equal.  If  this  de 
claration  of  independence  is  wrong  for  America,  and 
should  read,  all  men  are  created  of  importance 
according  to  their  grandfathers,  then  it  would  be 
a  noble  project  to  found  another  republic  in  some 
quarter  where  Jefferson's  declaration  of  independ 
ence  could  be  put  in  practice.  Most  of  us  would 
like  to  rear  our  children  in  such  a  republic.  Most 
of  our  children  would  like  to  be  reared  there.  If  this 
old  declaration  of  independence  of  ours  is  still  right 
for  America,  why  laud  the  babies  for  what,  their 
grand  parents  did? 

If  a  baby  shows  intelligence,  praise  him.  If  he 
shows  spunk,  don't  be  sorry,  for  it  is  a  sign  that 
when  he  becomes  a  man,  he  will  not  be  trodden 
upon  by  aristocrats.  Give  every  baby  full  credit 
for  all  he  is  worth,  but  no  more.  If  the  baby,  grown 
to  manhood,  makes  a  speech,  writes  a  book,  in 
vents  a  machine,  or  whips  the  British,  give  him 
full  credit  for  this.  If  the  speech  be  masterly,  the 
book  inspiring,  the  machine  of  great  value,  or  if 
he  gives  the  British  an  awful  thrashing,  laud  him  to 
the  skies.  He  is  then  great  from  a  correct  stand 
point,  and  if  you  have  superfluous  money  it  may  be 
fitting  to  put  up  a  monument  to  him,  though  ma 
terial  monuments  add  nothing  to  a  man's  greatness. 

This  inspires  other  maturing  babies  to  do  what  he 
has  done,  and  thus,  every  decade,  the  nation  be 
comes  a  more  comfortable,  happier,  and  safer  land  in 
which  to  live.  This  too  is  American.  This  is  justice. 


130  TALKS  ON  NATIVE  LAND. 

SnSepenaence    An  indication  of  the  advancement 
JT  and  civilization  of  the  age  is   the 

Jn  1  oinics.  independence  in  politics  exhibited 
by  voters  in  America. 

A  few  decades  ago  there  were  no  American  news 
papers  independent  in  politics.  Now  there  are  many. 
A  decade  ago  almost  every  American  was  a  party 
man.  Now  in  America,  thinking  men,  judicious 
men,  men  led  more  by  reason  than  by  prejudice, 
are  becoming  independent  in  politics. 

It  is  the  nature  of  most  men  to  be  free  and  independ 
ent.  It  is  the  nature  of  all  Americans.  After  the 
civil  war,  when  most  American  homes  had  suffered 
the  loss  of  at  least  one  of  their  defenders,  and  the 
inmates  of  every  home  had  seen  the  nation  on  the 
verge  of  destruction,  men  were  often  frightened  by 
party  leaders  to  remain  within  party  lines  that 
they  might  avoid  a  repetition  of  national  disaster. 
By  degrees  voters  learned  that  no  one  party  con 
tained  all  the  morality.  Gradually  they  saw  that 
no  one  party  held  the  destiny  of  the  nation.  At  length 
they  began  to  break  from  party  lines.  Soon  they 
formed  new  parties.  Now  a  great  portion  of  the 
voting  public  vote  with  any  party  which  will  right 
wrongs,  which  will  accomplish  reforms. 

Most  professional  politicians  are  in  politics  for 
financial  reasons.  They  could  only  reap  a  harvest 
when  voters  remained  in  party  lines.  That  voters 
should  break  the  ranks,  think  for  themselves,  and 
vote  as  they  chose  irritated  the  men  who  were  in 
politics  for  financial  gain. 


INDEPENDENCE  IN  POLITICS.  131 

It  is  characteristic  of  small  minds  when  blocked 
in  their  purpose  to  call  names.  Professional  pol 
iticians  could  think  of  no  name  in  the  English  lan 
guage  which  would  give  vent  to  all  the  spite  and 
hatred  they  bore  the  independent  voter.  They 
coined  one.  They  called  the  man  who  dared  think 
for  himself,  reason  for  himself,  vote  as  he  desired, 
a  "mugwump."  They  called  the  independent  voter 
other  bad  names.  They  hissed  him.  They  derided 
him.  They  paid  men  big  salaries  to  think  out  and 
write  vituperous  things  against  "mugwumps,"  in 
dependent  voters. 

Every  sect,  no  matter  what  its  purpose,  thrives  un 
der  persecution.  Independent  voters  have  thrived. 

Their  numbers  have  increased.  They  have  elect 
ed  presidents. 

To  be  independent  in  politics  is  no  longer  a 
disgrace.  The  bravery  of  the  independent  voter  is 
feared,  his  candor  is  respected,  his  cause  is  honored, 
and  independence  in  politics  has  become  a  synonym 
for  honest  government. 

*  #  #  *  ift 

No  reform  is  ever  produced,  no  wrong  is  ever 
righted  without  contest. 


Public  servants  make  a  mistake  when  they  imag 
ine  they  have  been  elected  to  rule  instead  of  to 
serve.  Public  opinion  in  the  long  run  can  not  be 
stifled.  It  will  assert  itself,  and  then  only  the 
officials  who  know  they  are  servants,  not  rulers,  are 
retained.  Fortune  is  often  a  curse  in  disguise. 


TALKS  ON  NATIVE  LAND. 

Memorial  day  is  a  significaDt  national 
event.  It  has  a  meaning,  an  impor- 
tant  one,  to  young  and  old  at  the  north, 
but  it  is  of  no  less  import  to  young  and  old  at  the 
south.  A  north  and  south  as  two  separate  nations 
could  not  long  endure  upon  the  American  con 
tinent. 

No  matter  what  the  issues  dividing  the  two  hos 
tile  sections  were  at  the  beginning,  when  war  com 
menced  there  was  but  one  issue.  Should  the  na 
tion  survive  or  must  it  perish.  That  the  nation 
should  survive  was  as  important  to  the  welfare  of 
the  south  as  to  the  welfare  of  the  north.  To-day 
most  southerners,  all  intelligent  southerners,  admit 
this,  and  so  memorial  day  is  of  like  significance  to 
both  south  and  north. 

The  men  who  carried  arms  in  1861  to  preserve 
the  nation  are  no  less  patriots,  than  the  men  who 
carried  arms  in  1776  to  found  the  nation.  Cicero 
said:  ''If  we  should  give  thanks  to  the  one  to  whom 
we  owe  our  birth,  how  much  more  grateful  should 
we  be  to  him  by  whom  we  are  preserved,  for,  we 
are  born  without  a  realization  of  the  fact,  but  we 
are  saved  from  destruction  with  emotions  of  joy." 

There  are  but  few  men  and  women  of  this  nation, 
who  rememberdistinctly  the  tryingordeals  in  which 
we  were  placed  from  1861  to  1865,  but  that  appre 
ciate  the  patriotism  of  the  Federal  soldier.  There 
are  some  who  did  not  live  during  the  war,  or  who 
never  faced  bullets,  that  do  not  realize  the  courage 
and  sacrifice  involved  in  being  a  patriot.  They 


MEMORIAL  DAY.  133 

may  speak  disparagingly  of  the  old  soldier,  but 
even  such  persons  are  more  thoughtless  than  ear 
nest,  and  in  a  land  of  people  loyal  to  their  country 
and  its  patriots,  adverse  remarks  on  men  who  have 
faced  death  for  the  nation  are  too  unpopular  to  be 
common. 

The  ranks  of  the  old  soldiers  are  rapidly  thinning. 
Those  who  remain  do  not  step  as  briskly  as  formerly. 
Where  once  Memorial  day  was  a  day  of  marching,  of 
military  parade,  of  shouldering  and  carying  of  arms, 
now  it  is  a  day  when  elderly  men  in  blue  ride  in 
carriages  to  the  public  cemeteries.  Instead  of  trim 
and  erect  soldiers  bearing  muskets  and  firing  salutes 
over  the  graves  of  their  dead  fellows,  now  worn  and 
bent  veterans  scatter  bouquets  of  roses  and  lilies 
over  the  mounds  of  their  departed  comrades. 

The  latter  has  its  influence  not  less  than  the 
former.  Children  watch  the  sacred  ceremonies,  and 
as  long  as  a  dead  soldier's  grave  is  a  more  sacred 
mound  than  another,  there  will  be  Americans 
willing  to  lay  down  their  lives  for  America. 

Nations  to  endure  must  have  their  defenders. 
There  will  only  be  defenders  so  long  as  there  is 
love  of  native  land.  Memorial  day  and  Indepen 
dence  day,  public  school  and  private  seminary, 
orations  and  sermons,  songs  and  symphonies  should 
teach  and  inspire  love  for  America.  Then  shall 
America  exist  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and 
ever  continue  vvhat  she  has  thus  far  been,  the  model 
not  only  in  improvement  and  progress,  but  in 
patriotism  for  all  other  lands. 


134  TALKS  ON  NATIVE  LAND. 

Th     b°     Wh°  doesn  a*  fo" 


'Fourth  of  , 

1          o  e  Jock  the  morning  of  the  Fourth 


Of  juiy  and  begin  to  shoot  fire-crack 
ers,  should  have  a  physician  to  examine  the  con 
dition  of  his  health.  No  boy  who  loves  his  country, 
who  detests  the  old  injustice  of  the  British,  and  who 
enjoys  fun,will  be  found  in  bed  after  the  dawn 
breaks  on  that  day,  and  that  is  early  in  July. 

To  properly  celebrate  the  Fourth  of  July  gives  a 
boy  an  awful  appetite.  Girls  that  assist  get  hun 
gry.  A  mother  who  doesn't  have  a  short-cake  for 
dinner,  a  strawberry  short-cake  —  everybody  that  is 
anybody  know  they  are  the  only  kind  worth  eating- 
is  a  mother  with  narrow  sympathies  and  undeserv 
ing  of  the  responsibilities  of  a  mother.  Some  men 
and  women,  now  that  they  are  grown,  act  so  prim 
and  dignified  that  one  would  suppose  they  had  never 
been  children.  It  doesn't  hurt  the  most  dignified 
to  shoot  fire-crackers  on  the  Fourth  of  July.  We 
are  a  free  nation.  Celebrate  the  glorious  fact. 
*  &  jj?  &  & 

The  Fourth  of  July  comes  but  once  a  year,  and 
being  Uncle  Sam's  birthday,  it  is  fitting  and  proper 
to  fire  both  large  and  small  guns.  It  is  entirely  prop 
er  to  let  off  some  big  guns  when  Old  Sol  is  visi 
ble  in  the  east,  to  repeat  the  process  when  he 
reaches  the  zenith,  and  then  to  shoot  them  again 
when  he  sinks  from  sight  in  the  west.  Uncle  Sam 
appreciates  such  a  celebration,  and  it  is  as  natural 
for  young  America  to  celebrate  the  Fourth  as  it  is 
for  them  to  speak  English. 


INDEPENDENCE,  DAY. 


the  an~ 
ni  versary  of  the  bi  rth  of  the  A  meri- 

can  nation.  It  also  marks  the  anni 
versary  of  the  birth  of  freedom  throughout  the  world, 

After  the  days  of  the  great  Roman  republic,  to 
be  free  and  independent  had  been  a  dream  in  the 
hearts  and  minds  of  the  noblest  and  best  men  of 
all  nations.  For  rulership  to  be  vested  in  one  per 
son,  whose  only  right  to  rule  existed  in  the  accident 
of  birth,  was  ever  obnoxious  to  liberty  lovers, 
Thoughtful  people  could  never  comprehend  how 
one  family  could  justly  come  in  possession  of  ruler- 
ship,  and  rightfully,  throughout  the  generations, 
hold  it  in  their  possession. 

The  destruction  of  the  selfish  is  their  selfishness. 
This  nation,  the  liberty  loving  people  of  the  world 
who  enjoy  any  degree  of  liberty,  owe  it  to  the  self 
ishness,  the  tyranny,  the  oppression  of  George 
the  Third,  once  king  of  Great  Britain.  This  king, 
not  content  in  enjoying  a  rulership  to  which  the 
people  had  never  elected  him,  became  arrogant, 
bigoted,  revengeful,  intolerable.  Honorable  citi 
zens,  who  considered  it  unjust  to  be  governed  by  a 
ruler  whom  they  had  not  chosen,  counted  it  doubly 
disgraceful  to  be  ruled  by  one  who  was  also  a  bigot, 
a  tyrant,  and  an  imbecile. 

George  the  Third  relied  upon  the  greatest  army 
and  navy  the  world  had  ever  seen,  with  which  to 
enforce  his  unjust  claim  as  sovereign.  Americans 
had  but  little  more  than  the  justice  of  their  cause 
upon  which  to  rely  for  rescue  and  defense. 


136  TALKS  ON  NATIVE  LAND. 

In  all  ages,  the  world  has  admired  people  who 
would  bravely  stand  for  their  rights.  The  principle 
of  freedom  for  which  Americans  contended,  and 
their  bravery  in  defying  so  powerful  a  ruler,  so 
terrifying  a  monarch  as  England's  king,  inspired 
the  respect  and  touched  the  sympathies  of  the  free 
dom  loving  men  and  women  of  the  world.  Some 
of  the  greatest  and  best  minds  of  Europe  openly 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  oppressed  Americans. 
Better  still,  there  were  skilled  warriors  who  had 
won  honors  on  European  fields,  and  who  were 
willing  to  buckle  on  the  sword  and  cross  the  sea  to 
face  death  for  the  principle  of  freedom  here  at  stake. 
Kosciuszko  came.  DeKalb,  Steuben,  and  Lafayette 
came.  Steuben  organized  and  trained  the  Ameri 
can  armies.  DeKalb  and  Kosciuszko  revealed  to 
Washington  the  maneuvers  of  war  which  had  won 
battles  for  the  German  and  the  Pole.  Lafayette 
marshaled  French  troops  along-side  the  American. 
King  George  and  his  great  armies  were  beaten. 
The  liberties  conceived  by  the  magna  charta  were, 
through  the  American  Revolution,  realized.  Men 
not  monarchs  rule  on  this  side  the  sea,  and  monar 
chy  is  a  piece  of  historic  heraldry  throughout  the 
civilized  world. 

Pri nciples  are  greater  than  men.  True  men  m ust 
ever  be  willing  to  lay  down  life  for  the  sake  of  prin 
ciple.  So  the  birthday  of  a  great  principle  is  greater 
than  the  birthday  of  a  great  man.  So  the  birthday 
of  the  principle  of  freedom  is  of  greater  importance 
than  the  birthday  of  any  man,  one  alone  excepted. 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY.  ,  ^  _..  137 

I 

The  Man  of  Galilee  came  for  man's  heavenly  re 
demption.  The  declaration  of  independence  came 
for  man's  earthly  redemption.  Only  as  earthly  exist 
ence  be  secondary  to  heavenly,  is  the  celebration 
of  Independence  Day  secondary  to  the  celebration 
of  Christmas. 

Foreign  nations  are  better  understanding  the 
relation  of  Independence  Day  to  freedom  as  enjoyed 
by  civilized  nations,  and  so  Independence  Day  is 
becoming  a  day  revered  by  all  to  whom  freedom  is 
dear.  Americans  know  well  the  hardship  and  suf 
fering  encountered  by  the  forefathers  in  establish 
ing  the  great  principle  that  all  men  are  created 
equal.  The  public  schools  of  America  teach  patriot 
ism.  The  literature  of  the  nation  inspires  patriot 
ism.  True  American  mothers  instil  patriotism. 

America  does  regard  her  denfenders.  No  nation 
gives  those  who  have  faced  death  in  its  battles 
such  protection.  America  does  regard  her  patriots. 
No  nation  gives  to  its  founders  such  respect.  The 
memory  of  the  heroes  of  the  Revolution  is  sacred 
to  Americans.  The  principle  for  which  these 
heroes  contended  is  sacred.  Independence  Day  is 
sacred. 

When  the  sun  is  setting  on  the  shores  of  Alaska, 
it  has  already  risen  on  the  coasts  of  Maine.  Some 
where  it  is  ever  sunrise  on  American  soil.  As  the 
sun  in  its  course  greets  the  stars  and  stripes,  there 
American  cannon  proclaim  freedom. 


Emblems  Dear  to  Lovers  of  Liberty. 


AN  OCEAN  VOYAGE,  139 


FOREIGN  TALKS. 


On  Ocean     ^n  a  P^easan^  June  afternoon,  our 
^  steamer,    well     furnished,    lighted 

UoVQQe,  throughout  by  electricity,  and  car 
rying  the  United  States,  French,  and  German  mails, 
dropped  down  the  harbor  into  the  Lower  bay, 
steamed  on  past  Sandy  Hook,  and  by  six  .o'clock 
we  were  well  out  on  old  ocean,  the  shores  of  home 
nnd  native  land  fading  to  a  dark  speck  at  the  west 
ward. 

The  first  morning  at  sea  is  the  worst.  Though 
sea-sickness  can  not  be  avoided,  if  one  will  strike 
bravely  out,  put  foot  on  deck,  stay  in  the  open  air, 
and  not  succumb,  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours,  or  a 
day  or  two  at  most,  he  may  begin  to  manifest 
an  interest  in  his  surroundings,  This  interest  is 
likely  to  increase.  In  fact,  the  all  absorbing  topic 
for  consideration  may  beCbme:  "What's  for  lunch?" 
"How  long  till  dinner?"  Four  times  a  day  seem 
none  too  many  in  which  to  appease  the  appetite, 
after  one  has  well  settled  down  to  life  at  sea. 

There  is  no  place  like  old  ocean  to  make  one  feel 
his  own  weakness  and  God's  greatness.  To  sail  on 
day  after  day,  night  after  night,  and  to  see  and 


140  FOREIGN  TALKS. 

know  of  nothing  but  the  great  expanse  of  rolling 
waters,  on  which  your  frail  craft  is  but  a  shaving 
compared  with  their  immensity,  inspires  one  with 
awe,  and  a  feeling  of  reverence  for  the  Architect  of 
the  Universe  takes  possession  of  heart  and  mind. 

In  proportion  to  the  distance  a  person  journeys 
from  his  own  shores,  he  realizes  the  necessity  of  a 
knowledge  of  at  least  one  foreign  language.  Though 
a  majority  of  our  passengers  were  American  citi 
zens,  conversant  with  the  English,  many  were 
French  or  German  born,  and  a  large  portion  of 
them  were  returning  to  visit  friends  and  relatives 
at  the  old  home  places  in  the  father-land,  and,  as 
we  near.ed  European  shores,  and  the  rugged  slopes 
of  the  Hartz,  the  Rhenish  scenes,  and  valleys  of  the 
Main  or  Neckar  came  more  vividly  to  their  minds, 
from  day  to  day  less  English  and  more  French  and 
German  conversation  was  evident,  till  at  length, 
without  a  speaking  knowledge  of  a  foreign  tongue, 
one  would  be  inconvenienced. 

Lands  End,  the  extreme  southwest  coast  of  all 
England,  though  barren  and  rugged,  makes  a 
pleasant  picture  for  the  eye  to  rest  upon  after  a 
prospect  for  more  than  a  week  of  rolling,  foam- 
capped  billows;  but  later*  when  the  uplands  sur 
rounding  the  sunny  harbor  hem  the  passage,  and 
the  land  breeze,  warm  and  scented,  strikes  the 
temples,  when  the  towers  and  domes  of  a  city  are 
fast  looming  up  in  front,  and  the  shore  outlines 
resolve  themselves  into  cultivated  fields  and  gardens, 
then  it  is  that  one  feels  that  the  perils  of  the  deep 


AN  OCEAN  VOYAGE.  141 

are  over,  and  that  care  and  anxiety  have  been 
banished  to  another  continent. 

The  birds  are  singing  once  more.  Their  notes 
are  all  sweet.  The  most  commonplace  things  are 
of  the  greatest  interest  and  importance.  One  can 
now  understand  that  none  but  a  prisoner  knows  well 
the  delights  of  freedom.  One  now  can  realize  that 
in  this  world,  the  need  is  not  so  much  for  greater 
and  grander  in  art  or  nature,  but  more  appre 
ciation  for  what  we  have.  God  can  create.  He 
only  needs  better  educated,  and  thus  more  appre 
ciative  observers, 

*  *  *  $  ® 

• 
Within  a  few  years,  quick  and  accurate  means  of 

securing  and  reproducing  on  canvas,  photographs 
of  objects  and  occurrences  have  rendered  the  average 
school  boy  as  well  informed  concerning  the  Scotish 
Lakes,  the  jungles  of  India,  or  the  antiquities  of 
Egypt,  as  many  travelers  who  have  actually  viewed 
the  objects  themselves. 


It  is  a  fact  that  a  thoughtful  listener  will  acquire 
more  and  better  ideas  in  one  evening  from  an  illus 
trated  lecture,  than  a  careless  traveler  would  secure 
in  a  month.  Travelers  too  often  see  the  objects 
from  one  point  of  view,  and  that  when  wearied  and 
exhausted  from  excessive  sight-seeing.  Illustrated 
lectures  give  views  of  an  object  from  different 
points,  and  no  time  or  place  is  more  favorable  for 
acquiring  ideas  than  at  an  evening  lecture. 


U2  FOKEIGN  TALKS, 

a  No  doubt  America  is  a  great  nation, 

ittericans  .  , 

ln  not   in   one   respect,   but  m    many 

respects.  Not  all  Americans,  but 
many  Americans,  are  well  aware  of 
this.  Americans  who  have  once  been  abroad  real 
ize  this  truth,  for  they  have  had  opportunities  to 
draw  correct  comparisons.  Since  a  majority  of  the 
comparisons  which  Americans  abroad  draw,  are 
much  in  America's  favor,  and  since  it  is  difficult 
for  Americans  far  from  home  to  restrain  their  ad 
miration  of  Uncle  Sam  and  the  conveniences  of 
Uncle  Sam's  domain,  an  American  abroad  often 
becomes  a  detestable  creature  in  the  eyes  of  foreign 
ers. 

In  both  Protestant  and  Catholic  churches  of  Eng 
land  there  is  much  ritualism.  To  many  Americans 
ritualism  is  but  another  form  of  idolatry.  The 
American  feels  that  he  is  in  a  foreign  country.  He 
knows  India  is  one  of  England's  possessions.  For 
the  time  being,  he  doesn't  stop  to  consider  whether 
the  conntry  be  India  or  England.  He  calls  the 
English  ritualism  idolatry,  and  all  of  Victoria's  es 
tablished  church  that  know  anything  about  him 
hate  him. 

The  American  attends  the  English  courts  and 
laughs  at  the  gowns  and  wigs.  He  terms  the  form 
and  ceremony  he  beholds  there  theatrical  pom 
posity.  Judges  and  barristers  that  know  him 
detest  him. 

The  American  visits  the  English  parliament  and 
listens  to  the  reading  of  the  queen's  message  to  that 


AMERICANS  IN  ENGLAND.  UB 

body  in  which  she  familiarly  speaks  of  lords  as 
"'Her  subjects/7  and  of  Englishmen  in  general  as 
"My  people."  This  pleases  him,  and  he  wonders,  in 
the  very  presence  of  lords  and  ministers,  if  they 
realize  that  they  are  subjects  of  a  queen  whom 
they  didn't  help  choose.  He  is  surrounded  by 
crowds  of  Englishmen  and  remarks:  "These  are  all 
Victoria's  people.  She  owns  every  one  of  them* 
She  said  so  the  other  day  when  she  opened  par 
liament.  Wonder  if  they  know  whose  they  are. 
Why  don't  they  go  to  America  and  be  free?" 
Had  the  American  any  English  friends  remaining 
to  him  before,  the  last  one  has  vanished  now,  and  he 
has  nothing  to  do  but  wait  for  the  steamer  to  take 
him  home. 

The  American  abroad  must  learn  not  to  talk. 
He  must  cultivate  his  powers  of  observation,  and 
leave  his  powers  of  expression  idle  till  he  is  again 
under  the  stars  and  stripes.  While  in  England,  it 
is  best  for  the  American  to  eat  kidneys,  pie  with 
out  crusts,  crusts  without  jam,  and  take  his  candle 
and  go  to  bed  as  the  Englishman  does.  He  can  show 
his  surprise,  and  talk  over  the  advantage  of  the 
American  way  of  doing  things,  when  he  gets  home. 

Victoria  has  been  least  oppressive  to  the  classes 
of  any  of  England's  rulers.  She  is  an  elderly  woman 
anyway,  and  it  is  only  respect  to  her  sex  and  her 
years,  for  an  American  inspecting  her  island,  to 
sometimes  say — not  emotional  of  course— "Vivat 
Regina,"  live  the  queen.  Uncle  Sam  expects  as 
much  of  his  family  when  traveling. 


144  FOREIGN  TALKS. 

Englishmen  will  not  institute  more  convenient 
customs  because  American  travelers  ridicule  the 
customs  now  in  vogue  with  them.  If  Englishmen 
get  a  favorable  idea  of  Americans  who  go  abroad, 
they  will  be  more  likely  to  come  here.  When  they 
gee  the  advantages  in  many  of  our  ways,  they  will 
be  more  likely  to  adopt  them.  American  methods 
now  prevalent  in  England  have  been  carried  back 
by  Englishmen  who  have  visited  America. 
*  *  *  x  * 

In  two  things  the  Englishman  may  at  least  claim 
superiority  to  the  American,  and  the  American 
Would  show  poor  wisdom  if  he  did  not  learn  from 
even  his  old  enemy.  Profanity  and  slang  are  not 
admitted  in  the  vocabulary  of  the  Englishman  who 
lays  claim  to  good  breeding.  The  Englishman  says, 
that  good  breeding  is  surface  Christianity,  and  so, 
good  breeding  will  admit  of  neither  profanity  nor 
slang.  _ 

Some  say  that  it  is  wrong  to  remember  an  in 
jury.  It  is  wrong  to  revenge  an  injury.  In  some 
instances,  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  an  injury, 
it  is  best  to  remember  it.  Great  Britain  misused 
and  would  have  enslaved  our  ancestors.  Our  ances 
tors  were  brave,  and  through  two  cruel  wars,  they 
secured  freedom  to  all  Americans  throughout  the 
centuries.  For  Americans  to  forget  this,  w^ould  be 
ungenerous.  For  Britain  to  forget  the  lesson  taught 
her  might  bring  other  wars,  or  cause  her  to  be  less 
kind  to  the  people  whom  she  still  rules. 


ENGLISHMEN  IN  AMERICA. 


^  America  travel.    Distan- 
ces  in  America  are  great,  and  a  per- 

Smerica  son'  *n  or(*er  ^°  &°  anywhere,  must 
make  quite  a  journey.  To  make 
long  journeys  soon  becomes  a  habit  of  Americans, 
and  so  Americans  are  often  met  far  from  home. 

The  person  who  ever  stays  at  home  learns  little 
new.  The  person  who  travels  much,  observes  much, 
draws  many  comparisons,  learns  much.  He  learns 
useful  things,  things  that  will  improve  him,  that 
he  can  utilize,  that  make  him  a  more  serviceable 
citizen. 

Many  American  people  know  not  only  about 
America,  they  have  been  to  Europe  and  are  well  in 
formed  concerning  European  places,  European  peo 
ple,  European  ideas,habits,  and  customs.  Theaver- 
age  American  knoivs  not  only  both  sides  of  his  own 
nation,  he  knows  both  sides  of  questions  that  con 
cern  his  nation.  The  person  who  knows  both  sides 
of  a  question  is  really  the  only  one  fitted  to  judge 
of  it.  Judicious  judges  are  American  judges,  judi 
cious  teachers,  lawyers,  ministers,  doctors,  and  bus 
iness  men  are  likely  to  be  American. 

An  Englishman  who  has  traveled,  one  who  has 
crossed  the  Atlantic,  is  ordinarily  mistaken  for  an 
American.  After  his  trip  to  America  his  first  re* 
mark  on  reaching  England  is,  "Well,  I  declare, 
though  I  had  read  much  about  America,  I  never 
got  an  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  America,  its  thrift 
and  progressi  veness.  It  beats  anything  I  ever  im 
agined!'7  If  he  be  a  farmer,  his  property  has  all 


U6  FOREIGN  TALKS, 

shrunken  in  importance.  His  big  trees  have  be 
come  saplings,  his  big  meadows  have  become  plots, 
his  big  fruits  are  dwarfs.  He  has  learned  that  the 
big  things^,  the  big  projects  are  in  America. 

An  Englishman  who  makes  a  trip  through  Amer 
ica  is  a  converted  man.  Ordinarily  he  is  changed 
in  his  views  of  business,  in  his  viewrs  of  finance.  He 
is  a  more  generous  man,  a  more  intelligent  man,  a 
better  man  for  what  America  has  taught  him.  An 
Englishman  who  makes  one  voyage  across  the  Atlan 
tic  nearly  always  makes  a  second.  Often  he  settles 
permanently  in  America. 

American  people  are  accused  of  being  boastful. 
Since  America  deals  in  the  gigantic  in  nearly  all 
lines,  the  accurate  truths,  told  in  England  by  Amer 
icans,  seem  fabulous  statements  to  those  who  have 
never  been  to  America.  To  believe  the  wonders  of 
America  one  must  see  them.  To  see  the  wonders 
of  America  one  must  travel.  To  travel  requires  am 
bition,  and  ambition  is  characteristic  of  Americans. 

The  Atlantic  is  not  an  impassable  barrier.  It  is 
no  longer  a  division  between  hostile  nations.  Its 
passage  is  as  free  to  inhabitants  of  England  as  to 
those  of  America.  If  English  people  knew  Amer 
ica  better,  they  would  be  more  certain  of  America's 
greatness,  more  appreciative  of  America's  import 
ance,  more  enthusiastic  in  America's  praise.  More 
Englishmen  should  travel  west.  They  will  then 
have  a  better  knowledge  of  this  section  of  the  globe, 
and  so  be  able  to  form  a  more  correct  estimate  of 
their  own. 


ACROSS  EUROPE.  147 

£t  It  is  too  lumbering  an  old  stage-coach 

affair  that  bears  us  across  continental 

Surope.  Europe  to  be  called  a  railroad  train, 
though  we  attain  a  fair  rate  of  speed,  but  the  land 
scape  outside  presents  objects  so  antiquated,  that 
the  train  is  truly  more  a  type  of  the  present  century 
than  anything  discernable. 

Men  with  sickles  are  cutting  wheat  and  rye,  while 
it  is  being  bound  and  stacked  by  women.  In  stone 
towers,  old  time  wind-mills  are  grinding  the  harvest 
of  last  year,  while  oxen  to  wooden  plows  and  don 
keys  to  drags  of  gnarled  wood  and  roots  are  prepar 
ing  the  ground  for  the  fall  sowing.  Christ  crucified 
at  all  cross-roads,  devout  monks  in  cape  and  gown, 
soldiers  to  right  of  us,  soldiers  to  left  of  us,  pointed 
Napolean  hats,  peasants  in  long,  loose  waistcoats  and 
wooden  shoes,  dogs  instead  of  horses  attached  to 
milk  wagons,  bells  on  the  stations  instead  of  on  the 
locomotives,  peat  for  fuel,  candles  for  light,  wine 
for  drink,  chicken's  heads  and  feet  for  meat,  rye 
bread — it  is  a  view  from  a  car  window  as  the  train 
sweeps  through  a  rural  district,  or  halts  for  a  mo 
ment  at  a  quaint  hamlet,  but  it  tells  the  story  of 
the  mental,  moral,  and  financial  conditions  existing 
to-day  in  continental  Europe,  as  well  as  they  could 
be  related  after  weeks  of  study  and  research. 

I  have  claimed,  the  greatest  good  that  can  come 
to  an  American  from  foreign  travel  is  an  added  ap 
preciation  of  the  comforts  and  advantages  of  Amer 
ica.  By  a  second  journey  into  the  heart  of  what  in 
Europe  is  best,  that  opinion  is  strengthened.  Eu- 


US  FOREIGN  TALKS, 

rope  has  great  cathedrals  and  great  monasteries, 
great  sculpture  and  great  paintings,  great  fortresses 
and  great  armies,  but  over  against  all  this  I  put 
one  thing  for  America.  America  is  the  land  where 
the  children  of  the  poorest  have  educational  advan 
tages  as  good  as  can  be  secured  for  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  European  nobles,  and  this,  now  and 
ever,  must  make  America  great  in  that  which  Eu 
rope  most  needs — great  men — God's  noblest  handi 
work. 

*  ®  <$  %  * 

How  peculiarly  the  acts  of  men  and  nations,  who 
are  living  a  century  or  two  behind  the  age,  impress 
one.  That  Germans,  half  a  century  ago,  made 
their  wills  before  taking  a  journey  over  the  first 
railroads  which  were  being  completed  is  not  strang 
er,  than  that  Li  Hung  Chang  travels,  taking  with 
him  from  place  to  place  his  own  coffin.  Men  can 
only  get  away  from  ignorance  and  superstition  by 
thinking,  reading,  and  observing. 


The  last  marriage  of  a  granddaughter  of  Queen 
Victoria  did  not  attract  the  attention  of  former 
royal  marriages.  Are  the  masses  of  Europeans 
becoming  so  wearied  of  supporting  royalty  in  idle 
ness,  that  it  is  not  a  pleasure  to  have  another 
family  added  to  the  list  for  maintenance?  Amer 
icans,  more  than  a  century  ago,  decided  not  to  long 
er  assist  in  the  support  of  European  nobility.  Their 
decision  made  a  good  deal  of  disturbance  at  the  time. 


THE  CZAR  OF  THE  RUSSIANS.  149 


(?za        Russia  crowns  a  czar.     It  would  be 
._.  more   accurate  to   sav  that  Russia 

oi  me  " 

allows  a  czar  to  crown  himself.    It  is 

,  i  i  f  ii 

the  custom  tor  the  young  czar  to 
place  the  diadem  on  his  own  head.  If  liberty  lov 
ing  Russians  should  attempt  to  stop  the  coronation, 
the  young  czar  would  order  out  the  Russian  army, 
and  tight  as  long  as  there  were  any  liberty  loving 
Russians  alive  who  opposed  him. 

The  present  czar,  who  calls  himsel  Nicholas  Second, 
claimed  the  right  to  crown  himself  and  rule  all  the 
Russians,  because  he  happened  to  be  born  in  a 
family  known  as  Romanoffs.  If  by  chance,  he  had 
been  born  in  some  family  known  as  Brown,  Smith, 
or  Jones,  this  idea  of  crowning  himself  as  ruler  of 
the  Russians  would  never  have  entered  his  head,  but 
being  born  in  that  family,  and  at  an  early  age 
learning  what  had  been  the  custom  of  his  ancestors, 
he  determined  to  do  as  they  had  done,  crown  him 
self.  He  did  it  in  public. 

After  the  death  of  his  father,  this  young  man 
issued  a  decree  telling  the  Russians  what  he  pro 
posed  to  do.  The  Russians,  having  become  accus 
tomed  to  such  a  procedure  on  the  part  of  former 
young  men  of  this  same  Romanoff  family,  did  not 
seem  surprised  at  this  fellow's  audacity.  In  fact, 
they  were  expecting  it  and  offered  no  objection  to 
his  intended  course.  If  some  of  the  Russians,  who 
have  heard  how  one  man  doesn't  rule  in  Switzer 
land  or  in  France  or  in  the  United  States,  but  that 
all  the  people,  rich  or  poor,  wise  or  simple,  rule,  and 


150  FOREIGN  TALKS. 

if  suchRussians  should  attempt  to  establish  a  sim 
ilar  condition  in  Russia  arid  get  this  assumptions 
young  man  off  the  earth,  then  a  thousand  or  more 
indolent  and  aristocratic  Russians  known  as  no 
blemen,  who  live  in  ease  about  the  throne,  would 
take  this  baby,  of  which  Nicholas  is  the  father,  and 
crown  that.  The  Russian  troops  would  then  be 
called  out,  and  anybody,  everybody,  who  claimed  the 
baby  shouldn't  rule  the  empire  would  be  killed. 

That  an  infant  of  its  age  could  rule  Russia  shows 
how  much  actual  labor  and  intelligence  are  invol 
ved  in  ruling. 

It  is  a  hard  and  bloody  thing  to  stamp  out  this  idea 
that  some  babies  are  born  to  rule.  France  saw  the 
United  States  do  it  in  1776  at  a  fearful  sacrifice, 
and  France  determined  that  she  was  willing  to 
undergo  as  much  for  the  enjoyment  of  such  a  con 
dition.  France  began  with  her  king,  killed  him, 
and  then  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  his  near  as  well 
as  his  distant  relatives.  She  supposed  she  had  de 
stroyed  the  last  vestige  of  royalty,  and  so  elected  a 
president  and  began  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  a  repub 
lic,  but  lo,  a  fellow  over  in  Austria  began  to  lay 
claim  to  the  rulership  of  France  on  the  gronnd  that 
he  had  run  away  from  France,  saved  his  head,  and 
that  therefore  by  right  of  birth,  he  was  the  correct 
person  to  rule.  The  French  people  invited  him  to 
come  home  immediately  and  be  killed.  He  beg 
ged  to  be  excused,  always  lived  abroad,  and  the 
present  Duke  of  Orleans  is  one  of  his  descendants. 
This  duke  has  a  great  tendency  to  pass  his  time 


THE  CZAR  OF  THE  RUSSIANS.  lol 

outside  of  French  borders. 

This  young  man  who  has  crowned  himself  czar 
of  the  Russians  always  had  aristocratic  proclivities* 
He  was  not  better  educated,  not  stronger  physically 
or  mentally  than  thousands  of  other  young  Rus 
sians,  yet  he  never  associated  generally  with  young 
men  of  his  abilities,  but  confined  himself  to  a  very 
exclusive  class  of^iddy  noblemen  about  his  father's 
court.  Girls  in  every  way  his  mental  equal,  and 
moral  superior,  he  utterly  ignored.  When  he  final 
ly  proposed,  it  was  to  another  aristocrat,  a  grand 
daughter  of  Queen  Victoria  of  England.  She  ac 
cepted  him  for  the  same  reason  that  he  proposed— 
on  the  ground  of  noble  blood  and  of  being  exceed 
ingly  exclusive.  Most  people  said  they  were  well 
matched.  So  the  sensible  girls  of  Russia  thought, 
and  they  were  glad  when  the  two  aristocrats  married. 
Everybody  was  glad,  for  nothing  so  improves  an  in 
dolent  person,  as  a  little  care  and  responsibility. 
Marriage  brings  that  alike  to  prince  and  peasant, 
and  no  doubt  the  past  few  years  have  put  as  much 
character  into  this  young  czar's  life  as  all  the  period 
of  his  former  existence. 

Everybody  who  has  seen  the  baby  says  that  it  is  a 
very  nice  baby,  a  pretty  baby.  It  smiles,  eats,  drinks, 
and  yells  about  the  same  as  other  babies  of  its 
age,  but  no  one  has  yet  discovered,  any  wonderful 
or  peculiar  traits  about  it  which  indicate  that  some 
day  it  ought  to  rule  Russia. 

Years  ago  many  freedom  loving  and  patriotic 
Russians,  to  whom  the  idea  of  one  person  being 


152  FOKEIGN  TALKS. 

born  to  rule  millions  was  obnoxious,  came  to  the 
United  States.  Other  Russians  entertaining  simi 
lar  liberal  ideas,  and  disliking  to  leave  that  country, 
from  time  to  time,  have  blown  up  a  czar  with  powder 
or  dynamite.  They  have  seen  the  foolishness  of  such 
a  course,  as  a  score  of  relatives  have  ever  been 
ready  and  anxious  to  succeed  to  the  annihilated  czar's 
throne,  and  the  new7  czar,  in  fear  for  his  own  life, 
has  only  been  more  severe  and  oppressive  to  free 
dom  loving  Russians. 

So  the  czar  is  crowned.  Americans,  with  the  enter 
prise  characteristic  of  Americans,  always  give  the 
most  extensive  and  interesting  press  reports  both  of 
the  new  czar  and  his  coronation.  American  readers 
read  the  accounts  with  the  intelligence  and  shrewd 
ness  for  which  Americans  are  noted,  and  then  they 
meditate.  The  results  of  their  meditations  are  not 
favorable  to  the  audacious  young  men  wrho  claim  an 
inherited  right  to  rule  Russians. 
&  ®  %  &  # 

Aristocracy  is  purely  a  temporary  condition.  If 
aristocracy  is  not  destroyed  by  reverses,  death  an 
nihilates  it. 

The  underlying  elements  of  aristocracy  are  ego 
tism  and  selfishness.  In  proportion  as  men  cultivate 
generosity  and  love  of  fellow  man,  they  attain  to 
ideal  manhood.  Aristocratic  rulers  are  to  be  pitied 
because,  owing  to  the  station  in  which  they  are 
born,  they  are  prevented  from  cultivating  these 
two  elements  of  ideal  humanity. 


PAEIS.  153 

~     .        They  say,  "Nothing  is  great  or  small  ex- 
1  ans.  comparison."     Once   I  reached 


Paris  after  many  days  spent  in  England  and  the  mid 
dle  and  southern  European  countries.  I  reached  Pa 
ns  from  Venice,  the  city  of  St.  Mark,  from  Florence, 
the  city  of  the  fair,  from  Rome,  St.  Peter,  and  the 
Vatican,  and  I  said:  "Paris  is  most  magnificent!" 
This  time  I  came  to  Paris  from  country  districts.  If 
Paris  thus  impressed  me  before,  how  idle  would  be 
a  description  of  impressions  now. 

Rome  was  not  built  in  a  day,  and  Paris  can  not 
be  seen  in  a  week.  It  can  not  be  studied  in  a  month. 

A  morning  walk  to  the  Hotel  des  Invalides,  the 
tomb  of  Napoleon,  and  across  to  the  Trocadero,  and 
Eifel  tower,  the  highest  structure  in  the  world;  an 
evening  ramble  to  the  Triumphal  Arch,  erected  by 
Napoleon  to  commemorate  his  victories,  and  a  turn 
of  a  mile  and  a  half  down  the  Champs  Elysees  to  the 
Place  de  la  Concorde,  the  center  of  all  that  is  grand 
est  and  most  beautiful  in  the  city;  a  visit  to  the 
Pantheon,  the  tomb  of  Victor  Hugo,  and  the  Park 
du  Luxembourg  .in  front  where  Marshal  Ney  was 
shot,  and  the  Palace  du  Luxembourg  where  the 
best  sculptors  of  France  have  wrought  in  bronze 
and  marble;  days  in  the  Louvre,  the  largest  art 
gallery  in  the  world,  studying  the  works  of  the 
great  masters  —  Reubens,  Raphael,  Titian,  Van  Dyck, 
Pousin,  and  Correggio,  or  a  ride  down  the  Seine  on 
a  passenger  steamer,  or  out  to  Versailles  on  an  om 
nibus,  all  this  helps  one  to  see  and  appreciate  Paris, 
and  gives  ideas  of  history,  art,  and  architecture. 


154  FOREIGN  TALKS. 

^       i  Throughout  all  lands,  Paris  is  noted 

(qjarcriesi.          ,,  ,      .   , . 

as  the  art  centre  or  painting  and  of 

music,  and  to  musicians  everywhere,  the  name  Mar- 
chesi  is  an  important  name,  a  noted  name,  a  name 
to  be  honored,  respected,  revered. 

For  a  long  time,  Mathilde  Marchesi  has  ranked 
foremost  as  a  trainer  of  the  female  voice.  Since 
the  death  of  the  Italian  masters,  Mathilde  Marchesi 
has  had  no  rivals.  She  is  admitted  the  greatest  vo 
cal  trainer  in  the  world. 

Mathilde  Marchesi  achieved  her  great  success 
through  her  deep  and  all-pervading  love  of  music. 
Her  love  for  the  art  was  such  that  she  was  willing 
to  suffer  much,  endure  much,  that  she  might  achieve 
much. 

For  years  this  woman  toiled  at  Milan  and  Florence 
with  incessant  zeal,  that  she  might  meet  the 
musical  artists  of  the  world  in  Paris,  and  unfold  to 
them  the  mysteries  of  the  art.  She  bent  her 
energies  with  intelligence  and  genius  to  inscribe 
her  devices  and  discoveries  in  books  to  be  read  and 
studied  by  people  of  all  nations,  so>  that,  even  those 
who  could  never  hope  to  reach  Paris,  might  yet 
avail  themselves  of  the  products  of  her  labor.  She 
wrought  at  the  public  institutions  of  Munich  and 
of  Brussels  to  so  firmly  implant  the  Marchesi  methods 
in  the  great  musical  conservatories  of  Europe,  that 
they  must  remain  after  their  authoress  perished. 

The  world  is  never  without  a  master  in  each  and 
every  art.  The  musical  world  has  looked  for  the 
one  who  is  to  succeed  Mathilde  Marchesi.  They 


MABCHESI.  IBB 

find  the  natural  successor  in  Blanche  Marches!  Cac- 
camisi,  the  mother's  only  child,  Blanche  Marchesi 
was  born  in  a  world  of  music.  She  was  reared 
among  sweet  sounds.  As  naturally  as  others  creat 
ed  discords  she  created  harmonies.  At  three  years 
of  age,  Blanche  Marchesi  sang  second  parts,  and 
was  visited  by  Gounod,  Godart,  and  Massenet.  As 
a  child  she  counted  the  mistakes  of  her  mother's 
advanced  pupils,  and  correctly  rendered  for  the  Mu 
nich  students  that  which  seemed  impossible  for 
others. 

The  parents  of  Blanche  Marchesi  realized  from 
the  first  that  if  their  daughter  was  to  follow  the 
footsteps  of  the  mother,  she  must  instruct  artists  of 
all  nations.  To  prepare  her  for  the  work,  they  early 
began  to  teach  her  the  modern  languages.  The  father 
and  mother,  masters  of  the  Italian  and  German 
tongues,  alternated  with  their  daughter,  requiring 
those  languages  to  be  spoken  at  intervals  during 
the  day.  She  acquired  French  from  her  Parisian 
surroundings.  At  an  early  age  Blanche  Marchesi 
spoke  these  three  languages  with  an  equal  degree 
of  fluency.  English  she  accomplished  later  through 
her  own  efforts. 

The  studios  of  Blanche  Marchesi  in  Paris  and  in 
London  are  places  at  which  congregate  the  better 
musical  talent  of  Europe  and  America.  They  are 
resorts,  too,  of  many  of  the  more  noted  literary  men 
and  women  of  Europe. 

Mathilde  Marchesi  spent  a  portion  of  her  life 
in  bringing  into  existence  the  Marchesi  method. 


156  FOREIGN  TALKS. 

Blanche  Marches!  started  in  full  possession  of  the 
results  of  her  mother's  labors,  and  so  she  is  not  only 
bringing  to  a  greater  degree  of  perfection  the  world 
renowned  method,  but  as  a  public  singer,  no  artist 
of  recent  years  has  won  greater  triumphs. 

With  the  ambition  and  the  industry  characteris 
tic  of  the  Marchesis  for  generations,  Blanche  Mar- 
chesi  Caccamisi  will  no  doubt  continue  the  true  ex 
ponent  of  the  Marches!  method,  and  the  most  artis 
tic  and  pleasing  singer  since  the  days  of  Jenny  Lind. 


Blanche  Marches!. 


158  EDUCATIONAL  TALKS. 


EDUCATIONAL  TALKS. 


Too  many  are  likely  to  nar- 

^  f  row   the   word   society  to 

s  Relation    that  part  of  the  public  be_ 

To  Society  yond  school  age.  The  teach 

er's  relation  to  society  in  the  church  or  lyceum,  at 
a  convention  or  an  evening  party,  does  not  differ 
materially  from  that  of  the  merchant,  mechanic, 
doctor,  or  lawyer.  Every  man  is  in  duty  bound  to 
meet  his  fellow  men.  He  is  in  duty  bound,  at  such 
times,  to  express  himself  for  the  good  upon  ques 
tions  of  morality,  to  champion  reforms,  to  impart 
information,  to  give  advice,  and  a  teacher  is  no  ex 
ception.  But  the  teacher,  also,  has  a  higher  and  a 
holier  relation  to  society,  and  it  is  to  the  portion  of 
it  that,  in  one  or  two  decades,  will  occupy  every 
position  from  the  carpenter's  bench  to  the  senate 
hall  and  pulpit. 

A  teacher's  relation  to  society  is  to  that  part- 
where  influence  tells.  The  minds  he  deals  with  are 
young,  all  ready  to  take  impressions.  Early  im 
pressions  are  most  lasting.  The  characters  intrust 
ed  to  him  are  forming.  They  must  take  some  shape, 
and  if  the  teacher  can  bring  strong  influences  to 


THE  TEACHER'S  RELATION  TO  SOCIETY.         Io9 

bear,  he  will  mould  them.  Ministers  deal  mostly 
with  matured  intellects.  They  may  keep  men 
pure.  Teachers  deal  with  intellects  immature  and 
flexible.  They  may  transform  the  coming  man  and 
make  him  pure. 

Every  teacher  is  a  home  missionary,  and  working 
to  reform  the  next  generation.  He  sensibly  goes 
down  to  the  germinating  plant,  and  he  expends 
his  labor  where  it  must  count. 

Under  our  present  laws  in  most  states  of  the 
Cnion,  the  children  must  come  under  the  teacher's 
influence  and  be  trained  by  him  during  the  nine 
years  when  habits  are  forming.  Then  it  is,  that 
the  child  is  selecting  one  of  the  great  highways, 
good  or  evil,  which  he  is  to  the  follow  through 
this  world  and  into  another.  Who  sustains  a  rela 
tion  to  society  more  vital  than  the  teacher? 

As  a  rule  young  people  are  brave.  They  will 
attempt  that  which  their  seniors  dare  not.  If  they 
are  unsuccessful  in  their  undertakings,  by  the  mass 
they  are  considered  rash,  if  successful  valiant. 
Whether  a  brave  deed  is  crowned  with  failure  or 
success,  the  same  spirit  of  gallantry  is  the  incentive, 
and  much  of  the  conservatism,  for  which  older  heads 
are  famed,  is  nought  but  polite  cowardice.  No 
teacher  can  lead  students  and  fit  them  for  society, 
but  a  brave  confident  one. 

A  teacher  wonders  at  a  spirit  of  disorder  among 
his  pupils.  He  is  a  hesitating  individual  with  but 
little  will  power,  and  not  enough  of  a  philosopher 
to  reason  to  the  true  cause  of  the  difficulty.  Often, 


160  EDUCATIONAL  TALKS, 

none  but  the  students  themselves  are  aware,  that 
it  is  their  bravery  rising  superior  to  his  timidity, 

No  one  will  estimate  a  teacher  higher  than  he 
estimates  himself,  and  a  teacher  who  does  riot  be 
lieve  in  himself  can  not  expect  others  to  believe  in 
him. 

Teachers  must  cultivate  self-esteem  and  confi 
dence.  They  must  be  worth  something,  and  so  es 
timate  themselves. 

A  teacher  above  all  others  must  practice  what  he 
preaches.  He  must  not  pretend.  He  must  not 
attempt  to  appear  what  he  is  not,  for  the  eyes  of  the 
young  are  first  to  discern  deception. 

A  teacher  must  have  faith  in  his  abilities.  He 
must  not  only  believe  himself  capable  of  discharg 
ing  his  duties  as  an  instructor;  he  must  know 
himself  the  possessor  of  that  power  and  magnetism 
to  lead  and  inspire. 

A  teacher  must  study  the  inclination  of  young 
minds.  If  his  students  lack  right  motives,  character, 
and  reliability,  these  qualities  must  first  be  im 
planted  well  within  the  heart,  and  then  all  influ 
ences  brought  to  bear  to  aid  their  growth  and  de 
velopment. 

If  a  teacher  finds  a  liar  among  his  pupils,  in  that 
student's  mind  he  must  instil  the  great  truth,  that, 
far  above  physical  courage  is  moral  bravery.  In 
that  student,  he  must  cultivate  all  the  truthful  tend 
encies  he  may  find,  and  in  place  of  the  false  and 
deceitful  part  of  his  nature,  he  must  implant  that 
which  will  develop  into  the  true  and  upright. 


THE  TEACHER'S  RELATION  TO  SOCIETY.         161 

A  teacher,  in  order  to  succeed  in  reforming  and 
bettering  the  young,  must  either  have  entered  the 
profession  for  that  purpose,  or  have  been  thoroughly 
converted  to  the  nobleness  of  the  work,  and  believe 
in  it,  heart  and  soul. 

To  train  the  young  and  so  fit  them  that  they 
may  be  an  honor  to  society  is  the  most  sacred  work 
ever  entrusted  to  human  hands.  A  man  or  woman 
in  this  business,  with  any  other  motive  than  to 
educate  the  minds,  the  souls  of  the  rising  generation 
for  a  useful  existence  in  this  world,  and  the  enjoy 
ment  of  another  and  a  better  life,  deserves  to  fail,  and 
his  failure  is  the  greatest  blessing  society  can  receive. 
A  teacher  who  instructs  the  young,  only  for  pecuni 
ary  gain,  is  a  Judas  selling  his  master  for  silver. 

A  teacher  must  reason  from  his  own  life  to  the 
lives  of  his  pupils.  He  must  inspire  them  by  just 
the  influences  that  developed  that  which  he  knows 
is  best  in  his  own  character.  He  must  realize  that 
with  him  rests  the  responsibility  of  laying  the 
very  foundation  of  society. 

In  far  away  Italy,  in  the  beautiful  valley  of  the 
Arno,  stands  a  tower.  For  its  construction,  cen 
turies  ago,  architects  planned,  laborers  wrought, 
and  all  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Tuscany  contributed. 
The  foundation  of  the  structure  was  entrusted  to 
builders  careless  of  responsibility.  It  was  laid  im 
perfect,  and  to-day,  the  famous  campanille  of  Pisa, 
leaning  from  the  perpendicular,  is  prevented  from 
toppling  to  the  earth,  only  because  its  great  chime 
of  bells  is  placed  far  to  one  side. 


162  EDUCATIONAL  TALKS. 

Carving  and  polished  marble,  fresco  and  mosaic- 
add  not  to  its  beauty.  Travelers  gaze,  but  they 
are  attracted  only  by  its  deformity. 

Far  up  the  valley,  on  the.  banks  of  the  same  Arnor 
in  Florence,  the  city  of  the  fair,  stands  another 
tower.  Not  more,  artistic  in  design,  not  more  ex 
cellent  in  ornamentation,  but  upright  on  a  firm 
foundation,  it  looks  heavenward  into  the  blue 
Italian  sky. 

Delicacy  of  finish,  wealth  of  sculpture,  the  purity 
of  design  of  every  figure  and  tablet,  lend  it  a  charm, 
Men  stand  in  rapture,  for  Giotto's  campauille  is  the 
model  and  mirror  of  perfect  architecture,  and  the 
most  beautiful  building  in  the  world. 

Society  is  a  tower,  planned  by  the  Divine  Ar 
chitect.  The  foundation  of  the  magnificent  struct 
ure  is  entrusted  to  teachers.  Our  youth  is  the  ma 
terial  with  which  they  build.  If  it  be  a  ruin,  it 
attracts  only  by  its  deformity.  If  it  be  a  monu 
ment,  it  is  admired  for  its  usefulness  and  beauty. 


Next  to  the  mother's,  the  teacher's  influence  is 
greatest. 

A  person  can  not  ever  be  pouring  and  never  dip 
ping.  No  class  of  workers  require  an  opportunity 
to  secure  a  new  supply  of  material  more  than  mind 
workers.  The  great  instructors,  writers,  lecturers 
of  the  present  age  have  been  great  observers,  great 
travelers. 


THE  POWER  OF  LANGUAGE,  163 


s  an  animal-  In  body  man 
of  differs  but  little  from  the  remainder 

Canguage.  of  the  animal  creation.  For  some 
time,  scientists  claimed  for  man  a  superiority 
over  other  animals,  inasmuch  as  he  was  supposed 
to  possess  mental  attributes  which  they  did  not. 

Man  possesses  memory,  reason,  imagination,  rec 
ollection,  and  judgment.  These  are  mind  qualities 
which  early  thinkers  attributed  only  to  the  human 
race.  By  farther  study,  animals  were  credited 
with  the  possession  of  first  one  and  then  another  of 
these  mental  attributes,  till  at  last,  the  possession 
of  reason  alone  was  denied  the  animal.  But  then 
it  was  determined  that  the  higher  types  of  animals 
had  every  appearance  of  possevssing  reason,  and  so. 
that  man  might  claim  for  himself  some  superiority 
mentally  over  the  beast,  the  scientist  called  the 
animal's  intelligence,  so  much  resembling  reason, 
instinct  or  intuition.  The  remark  at  length  became 
common.  Man  reasons,  the  animal  does  not,  but 
acts  through  instinct  or  intuition. 

There  has  been  further  research  as  to  the  nature 
of  intuitive  knowledge,  and  every  revelation  con 
cerning  it  is  to  the  effect  that,  if  intuition  differs 
from  reason,  intuition  is  much  the  higher  and 
nobler  type  of  knowledge.  Thus  it  follows,  that  ig 
norant  man  in  his  desire  to  exalt  himself  above  the 
animal  in  mind  capacity,  has  utterly  failed.  To 
maintain  a  distinction  between  himself  and  the 
animal,  as  a  last  resort,  man  has  been  compelled 
to  revert  to  a  physical  characteristic.  Man  now 


164  EDUCATIONAL  TALKS, 

claims  that  his  superiority  over  the  animal  lies  in 
the  fact  that  he  possesses  a  spoken  and  written  lan 
guage,  to  acquire  which  the  animal  is  quite  incapa 
ble. 

Though  this  theory  is  not  altogether  invulnerable, 
from  the  fact  that  most  animals  communicate 
quickly  and  intelligibly,  yet,  as  the  communica 
tion  is  by  a  series  of  poorly  formed  sounds  instead 
of  regular  and  harmonious  word  formations,  man 
is  allowed  to  retain  this  distinction  as  the  charac 
teristic  difference  between  himself  and  the  remain 
ing  animal  creation. 

So,  not  mind,  but  the  power  of  speech,  renders 
man  superior  to  the  animal  be  controls.     Not   rea 
son,  but  the  power  of  language  raises  man  above  the 
beast,  and  to  a  place  a  little  lower  than  the  angels. 
»  &  &  &  & 

A  person  who  boasts  of  his  correct  use  of  the  En 
glish  proves  how  incomplete  is  his  knowledge  of 
this  difficult  language.  A  person  who  claims  per 
fection  in  any  branch  of  education  proclaims  igno 
rance,  but  especially  is  this  true  of  the  person  who 
proclaims  perfection  in  English.  The  English  is 
formed  from  many  other  languages,  both  heathen 
and  civilized.  There  are  more  words  in  English 
than  in  any  other  language.  The  vocabulary  of 
the  ablest  scholars  comprises  only  a  small  fractional 
part  of  the  entire  number  of  English  words.  The 
use  of  English  violates  so  many  rules  of  established 
grammar,  that  good  English  is  often  poor  grammar, 
while  good  grammar  is  often  poorEnglish. 


THE  USE  OF  LANGUAGE,  IBB 

People  are  better  than  animals  ow- 
VL    "  ing  to  the  power  of  language.    To 

language.      uge  ^00(j  }anguage  js  progress  toward 

enlightenment.  To  use  poor  language  is  degener 
ation  toward  the  brute.  As  language  is  the  divid 
ing  line  between  beasts  and  men,  so  good  language 
is  the  characteristic  difference  between  the  edu 
cated  and  the  ignorant. 

The  higher  the  degree  of  civilization  of  any  race, 
the  greater  is  the  number  of  words  in  its  spoken  or 
written  language.  The  dictionary  of  the  English, 
the  German,  or  the  French,  is  proof  positive  of  the 
greatness  and  superiority  of  those  nations.  No 
race  surpasses  in  culture  and  intelligence  the  En 
glish  speaking  people,  and  their  dictionary  is  larger 
by  several  thousand  words  than  that  of  any  other 
race. 

To  be  able  to  use  correctly  a  great  variety  of  le 
gitimate  words  distinguishes  the  individual  as  re 
fined.  To  be  the  master  of  but  few  words,  to  be 
constantly  resorting  to  grunts  for  words,  and  to 
slang  for  ideas,  stamps  the  person  as  uncultured  and 
ignorant. 

Language  is  the  mirror  of  the  mind.  A  person 
with  narrow  language  has  a  narrow  mind.  A  per 
son  with  incorrect  language  has  a  faulty  mind.  A 
person  with  iuipure  and  slangy  language  has  a  mind 
sensual  and  depraved.  Every  person  that  thinks, 
talks,  and  the  manner  and  substance  of  his  conver 
sation  prove  whether  his  thoughts  have  been  low 
and  base,  or  high  and  noble.  In  all  ages,  under  all 


Itfti  EDUCATIONAL  TALKS, 

circumstances,  no  matter  what  the  condition,  heart 
and  mind  determine  the  language  of  the  mouth. 

No  study  is  so  elevating,  so  profitable  to  the  indi 
vidual,  as  the  study  of  words.  Words  form  the  lan 
guage,  and  as  the  language  is  good  or  bad,  the  per 
son  is  admitted  in  circles  cultured  and  refined,  or 
relegated  to  a  place  among  the  coarse  and  ignorant. 
It  is  a  wise  provision  of  nature  that  no  person  shall 
be  able  to  conceal  his  innate  method  of  speech. 
One  remark,  one  sentence,  often  a  clause  decides 
all,  and  it  is  unnecessary  for  society  to  class  the  in 
dividual.  The  individual  himself  determines  his 
true  location  in  the  social  sphere.  Through  in 
stinct,  he  seeks  the  place  to  ivhich  his  thought,  as 
revealed  by  his  language,  allots  him,  and  only  in 
that  circle  is  he  at  ease  with  himself  and  his  sur 
roundings. 

It  pays  to  reject  slang,  to  cultivate  good  and  pure 
and  intelligible  language.  It  pays  to  do  this  in 
youth,  as  the  tendencies  of  youth  are  the  habits  of 
after  years.  It  brings  success.  It  promotes  honor. 
It  insures  respectability.  Study  proper  words. 
Mould  correct  sentences.  Practice  intelligent  lan 
guage. 

*  x  *  ®  & 

One  who  knows  little  is  unaware  of  his  own  im 
perfections,  and  so  is  confident  and  boasts.  One 
who  knows  much  understands  that  he  is  only  at 
the  surface  of  that  which  might  be  known,  and  so 
never  vaunts.  "Great  knowledge  is  generous,  little 
knowledge  is  egotistic/7 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  IN  DISTRICT  SCHOOLS.    167 

An  American  superintendent 
ign  Canguages  of  public  instruction  in  the 

_  '"     1      .        Southwest    recently    said   in 

District  Schools.    his  annual  report;    «0ne  of 

the  most  serious  obstacles  to  the  carrying  out  of 
the  school  law  is  the  lack  of  knowledge  of  Spanish 
by  teachers." 

If  this  be  true,  and  teachers  generally  before  taking 
charge  of  schools  in  localities  where  no  English  is 
spoken,  acquire  the  foreign  tongue  used  there,  and 
impart  instruction  in  that  language,  when  will  such 
communities  be  transformed  into  English  speaking 
communities,  and  their  inhabitants  be  inspirit  and 
in  truth  what  they  already  are  in  form,  citizens  of 
the  United  States  of  North  America? 

The  United  States  has  ever  been  the  home  of  the 
foreigner  of  whatever  nation.  It  has  been  the  pro 
vince  of  this  nation  to  assimilate  and  Americanize 
the  former  inhabitants  of  other  nations.  This  the 
nation  has  done  by  first  teaching  to  the  German, 
to  the  Frenchman,  to  the  Italian,  to  all  from  what 
ever  country,  our  language,  the  English.  Why 
should  we  make  an  exception  at  this  late  day?  Why 
allow  America  to  be  absorbed  by  the  East  and 
American  progress  retarded? 

Foreigners,  who  seek  a  home  here,  thankful  that 
they  are  now  citizens  of  the  grandest  republic  on 
earth,  should  acquire  our  customs  and  language, 
and  there  is  no  place  where  this  can  be  done  so 
easily,  readily,  and  naturally  as  in  our  free  public 
schools. 


16S  EDUCATIONAL  TALKS, 

Vacation  days  slip  away.     Idleness  is  not 


|or  pleasure.  The  greatest  pleasure  wrhich 
can  come  to  young  or  old  comes  through 
entertaining  labor.  But  a  few  days,  or  a 
few  weeks,  of  that  kind  of  rest  which  requires  of 
mind  and  body  absolutely  no  exertion,  suffices. 

A  pupil  who  is  so  interested  in  books  that  he 
finds  one  of  the  pleasures  of  the  vacation,  practice 
in  entertaining  reading,  the  solving  again  of  prob 
lems  that  were  most  difficult  last  year,  and  the 
perusal  of  the  descriptions  of  states,  countries,  cities, 
and  people  from  the  geography,  is  one  who  will  be 
a  bright  pupil  in  school,  because  he  will  know  more 
than  he  has  learned  in  class  recitation. 

Every  pupil  when  grown  must  work  with  mind 
or  else  with  muscle.  Physical  work  is  honorable, 
but  there  are  many  who  wish  to  do  mental  work, 
that  are  compelled  to  work  with  the  hands  for 
want  of  sufficient  mental  development.  Any  one 
in  these  days  who  hopes  to  engage  in  mental  work 
must  begin  to  develop  the  mind  when  young. 
Those  girls  and  boys  who  devote  a  portion  of  the 
long  vacation  to  easy  and  invigorating  study  will  be 
best  prepared  for  mental  labor. 


The  old  Indian  reservations  on  which  the  Indians 
were  supported  in  idleness  have  now  given  way  in 
many  places  to  Indian  schools.  In  these,  the  In 
dians  are  taught  the  arts  of  peace  instead  of  being 
allowed  to  plot  and  drill  in  the  science  of  war. 


PREPARING  FOR  SCHOOL.  169 

«~  It  pays  to  prepare  for  any  important 

n^  event.  To  acquire  an  education  is  the 

_    °r  most  important  event  in  the  life  of  a 

OCrj.001.  girj  or  k^  a  young  woman  or  young 
man.  The  success  which  a  young  person  will  make 
of  the  school  year  will  depend,  in  quite  a  large  de 
gree,  upon  the  preparation  completed  for  the  open 
ing.  Often  principles  are  taught  during  the  first  few 
days  after  the  beginning  of  school  upon  which  de 
pends  the  work  of  the  school  year.  The  pupils  who, 
through  lack  of  preparation  for  the  opening,  failing 
to  get  these  important  principles,  may  be  handi 
capped  for  the  entire  year,  acquire  the  reputation 
of  being  dull,  fail  in  their  examinations,  and  be 
compelled  to  again  take  the  entire  work.  Thus  one 
year  of  school  life  is  lost. 

The  best  acquirement  supposed  to  be  obtained  in 
school  is  the  gaining  of  useful  habits.  Teachers 
should  instil  habits  of  preparation.  In  this  impor 
tant  matter,  the  work  of  the  teacher  should  be  supple 
mented  by  the  influence  and  authority  of  the  parent. 
The  parent  should  encourage,  and  if  necessary,  en 
force  habits  of  preparation. 

To  send  the  child  to  school  on  the  day  of  opening 
properly  fed  and  clothed  is  not  sufficient.  During 
the  vacation,  the  child  should  have  been  inspired 
with  the  great  necessity  of  acquiring  an  education. 
The  child  should  enter  school  the  first  day  with  a 
mind  willing  and  anxious  to  be  taught. 

Prepare  the  children  for  school  by  inspiring  them 
with  a  desire  for  knowledge. 


170  EDUCATIONAL  TALKS. 

~  -j.  The  population  of  America  presents 
great  extremes  in  degrees  of  intelli 
gence.  From  the  cultured  American  to  the  ignor 
ant  Indian,  the  contrast  is  marked.  Between  these 
extremes,  exists  every  gradation  in  the  scale  of  en 
lightenment. 

It  is  easy  to  judge  of  the  types  of  civilization  in 
the  nation  by  observing  what  arid  how  they  read. 
The  aborigines,  except  at  the  government  schools 
provided  for  them,  do  not  read.  Those  a  little 
above  the  Indian  types  read,  but  their  tastes  are 
for  reading  excitable,,  unreal,  exaggerated,  for  mat 
ter  that  appeals  to  the  lowest  qualities  of  the  mind, 
to  hate,  deception,  revenge.  The  climax  in  the 
scale  is  reached  with  the  educated  American. 

He  reads  constantly  and  is  entertained  in  the  af 
fairs  of  the  day,  the  news  of  the  world.  He  not 
only  desires  the  important  occurrences  of  this  and 
foreign  nations,  he  wants  them  on  the  day  of  hap 
pening.  Recent  news  charms  him.  Old  news  dis 
gusts  him.  He  demands  history  when  it  is  form 
ing.  Events  that  transpire  in  Asia  and  Africa  are 
good,  but  to  please  the  intelligent  American,  the 
account  of  these  events  must  be  furnished  him 
within  the  first  twenty-four  hours  after  they  occur. 

The  intelligent  American  reads  fiction,  but  he  de 
mands  fiction  which  is  a  close  and  accurate  por 
trayal  of  the  real.  Impersonation  pleases  him,  but 
the  characters  must  move  and  act  and  talk  as  the 
characters  under  the  same  conditions  in  real  life. 
His  tastes  are  for  thoughtful  articles,  but  they 


HEADING,  171 

must' be  based  on  reason,  logic,  and  they  must  show 
judgment  in  every  hypothesis,  premise,  and  analogy, 
or  their  conclusions  are  stamped  as  incorrect  and 
misleading. 

The  reading  public  has  now  become  the  influen 
tial  public.  -Among  the  best  classes  of  American 
citizens,  there  is  no  aristocracy  of  wealth.  A  man 
with  riches,  but  with  an  inferior  intellect  and  a 
small  degree  of  culture,  is  not  a  man  of  influence. 
There  are  some  who  will  endure  him,  but  there  are 
others  who  will  ridicule  him.  His  estimation  by 
the  intelligent  is  low. 

It  pays  to  read.  It  is  profitable  to  think.  It  is 
exalting  to  reason.  America  can  have  no  aristoc 
racy  as  long  as  the  people  of  America  fix  their  high 
est  estimate  on  intelligence.  This  is  right.  It 
promotes  a  higher  state  of  civilization.  It  is 

American. 

&  *  &  #  * 

The  greatest  source  of  education  is  conversation. 
To  converse  with  intelligent  people  means  to  be 
come  better  educated.  It  pays  to  select  intelligent 
associates. 


America  is  not  a  land  where  art  and  architecture 
and  music  best  thrive.  The  reason  is,  because  in 
many  sections  of  America,  it  is  a  greater  achieve 
ment  to  become  a  skilled  politician  than  to  become 
a  skilled  artist.  This  unfortunate  feature,  time  is 
changing,  and,  in  all  parts  of  the  Union,  each  de 
cade  shows  a  higher  estimate  placed  on  the  finer  arts. 


172  EDUCATIONAL  TALKS. 

1^  -.  Straws  tell  which  way  the  wind  blows  and 
small  traits  reveal  the  character  and  dis 
position  of  the  person.  It  has  been  said,  if  you 
know  what  one  eats,  when  he  eats,  and  how  he  eats, 
you  may  determine  the  condition  of  his  health.  It 
is  positive  if  you  know  what  one  reads,  and  how  he 
reads  it,  you  may  determine  his  degree  of  intelli 
gence. 

It  is  a  broad  rule,  but  a  true  rule,  that  a  person 
who  reads  but  little  thinks  but  little.  Savages  do 
not  read.  Some  not  savages  also  do  not  read,  but 
mentally  they  bear  a  close  resemblance  to  the 
savage.  Even  more  than  intelligent  conversation, 
our  reading  is  the  inspiration  of  our  thoughts.  If 
you  constantly  read  bright,  pithy  books,  newspaper 
articles  full  of  ideas  and  so  sharply  and  graphically 
stated  that  they  penetrate,  your  mind  becomes  like 
the  mind  of  your  author,  your  conversation  is  im 
proved.  You  begin  to  use  fewer  words  and  more 
ideas.  You  talk  less  and  say  more.  You  talk  to  a 
purpose.  You  think.  You  think  to  a  purpose.  A 
dull  speaker  is  a  crow.  A  lively  thinker  and  list 
ener  in  his  presence  is  a  king  bird  after  him. 

There  are  men  and  women  to-day  of  but  limited 
use  and  influence,  who  might  have  been  the  in 
tellectual  soul  and  life,  not  only  of  their  family, 
but  of  their  neighborhood,  had  they  formed  the 
habit  of  bright,  active,  and  intelligent  thought. 
They  could  have  formed  this  habit  by  reading,  by 
ever  reading  spirited  articles,  by  forming  a  taste 
for  the  authors  who  write  with  a  purpose. 


BEAD.  173 

There  are  many  men  and  women  who  are  a  power 
among  their  friends  and  neighbors  because  they 
think.  They  think  because  they  read.  They  read 
because  they  know  the  value  of  the  influence  of  read 
ing  upon  their  minds  and  hearts.  Their  admirers 
wish  that  they  too  might  be  bright  intellectually. 
They  could  if  they  would  begin  to  think  and  read  and 
continue  it  for,  "What  we  do  often,  soon  becomes 
easy  to  us." 

In  adapting  the  organs  of  the  senses  to  the  physical 
structure,  no  doubt  God  intended  to  teach  these 
lessons.  He  has  given  us  one  nose  which  is  enough 
for  all  the  nuisances  with  which  we  must  come  in 
contact,  two  ears  and  one  tongue,  for  it  is  better  to 
listen  than  to  talk,  two  eyes  with  which  to  read, 
for  reading  is  only  another  manner  of  listening. 

It  is  a  poor  plan  to  spend  much  time  and  energy 
in  reading  that  which  is  not  intended  to  be  remem 
bered,  for  then  one  is  forming  the  habit  of  forget 
ting  instead  of  the  habit  of  remembering.  That 
only  becomes  a  part  of  one's  mind  and  soul  which 
he  remembers. 

The  most  valuable  objects  often  occupy  least  space, 
so  with  the  most  valuable  thoughts.  Superfluous 
words  always  mar  and  distort  the  idea.  The  best 
writers  are  they  who  have  the  best  thoughts,  and 
the  most  direct,  intelligent,  and  impressive  manner 
of  telling  or  illustrating  them. 

Of  books  and  newspapers,  read  those  that  are 
brave,  that  champion  reforms,  that  oppose  evils, 
that  support  the  highest  good  of  the  state. 


174  EDUCATIONAL  TALKS. 

College  athletics,  as  conducted  by  the 
great  colleges  of  the  nation,  have  be- 
come  more  of  a  detriment  than  a  ben 
efit.  The  development  of  the  mind  has  ever  been 
considered  the  primary  object  of  the  college.  It  is 
not  necessary  for  parents  to  send  their  sons  to  col 
lege  in  order  to  develop  their  muscle.  The  great 
American  pugilists  secured  sufficient  muscular  de 
velopment  to  become  world  renowned,  and  they 
never  saw  the  inside  of  a  college.  Their  parents 
never  paid  a  dime's  tuition  to  a  university  of  learn 
ing.  There  are  scores  of  graduates  leaving  our 
great  colleges  who  would  gladlv  exchange  their 
diplomas,  titles,  honors,  had  they  won  any,  for  the 
ability  of  these  pugilists. 

One  must  now  turn  pages  of  a  Congressional  Direc 
tory  to  find  the  name  of  a  graduate  of  a  great  Amer 
ican  college.  There  was  a  day  when  one  must  turn 
pages  of  such  a  record  to  find  other  than  names  of 
graduates  of  these  colleges.  Names  of  graduates  of 
high  schools,  normal  schools,  academies,  and  smaller 
colleges  are  common  in  the  congressional  records. 
A  young  man,  most  any  person,  does  but  one 
thing  at  a  time  well.  In  one  of  the  great  univer 
sities,  not  only  the  minds  of  the  young  men  who 
actually  engage  in  the  intercollegiate  contests,  but 
the  minds  of  nearly  all  the  other  young  men  of  the 
school  are  intent  upon  athletics.  Every  young  man 
must  try,  for  there  is  a  possibility  of  his  developing 
into  something  that  would  gain  him  a  place  on  one 
of  the  regular  university  teams. 


COLLEGE  ATHLETICS.  175 

Young  men  can't  travel  all  over  the  United 
States,  giving  exhibition  contests  of  muscular  feats, 
and  still  get  their  lessons.  It  might  be  otherwise 
were  the  young  men  to  engage  in  mental  instead 
.of  physical  contests.  With  part  of  the  students 
traveling  about  the  country,  those  left  at  the  uni 
versity  do  not  feel  as  much  like  study.  Since  part 
are  allowed  to  go,  professors  do  not  feel  like  re 
quiring  as  much  of  those  remaining.  Professors 
must  report  about  such  a  proportion  of  their  stud 
ents  for  graduation,  or  it  reflects  upon  the  ability 
and  energy  of  the  instructor.  So,  at  the  great  uni 
versities,  mental  requirements  have  continually 
lowered  as  athletics  have  absorbed  the  interest.  In 
sections  of  the  courses  where  young  women  are  ad 
mitted,  it  has  become  easy  enough  for  the  girls  to 
carry  off  the  honors. 

A  young  man  can't  make  his  mark  in  the  world 
on  the  strength  of  his  diploma,  not  even  if  it  be 
from  one  of  the  greatest  universities  in  the  land. 
A  young  man  must  make  his  mark  on  his  mental 
inheritance,  and  on  the  mental  capacity  his  school 
gives  him.  Athletics  engaged  in,  not  beyond  the 
city  where  the  university  is  located,  contribute  best 
to  excellence  of  mental  development. 
&  &  $  $  & 

A  millionaire,  who  has  given  several  millions  to 
an  American  University,  has  recently  paid  his  first 
visit  to  that  institution.  It  is  seldom  that  a  man 
is  found  who  realizes  both  the  power  of  his  money, 
and  the  insignificance  of  his  own  personal  self. 


176  EDUCATIONAL  TALKS. 

q  -I  r-ng  Normal  schools  have  been  founded  to 
teach  educators  their  trade.  They 
1  sacr^ing.  champion  the  inductive  or  natural 
method  of  teaching. 

Among  the  statesmen  of  this  nation,  who  bent 
their  energies  toward  the  training  of  teachers,  are 
De  Witt  Clinton,  Morgan  Lewis,  W.  L.  Marcy,  Wm. 
H.  Seward,  and  John  Jay,  while  among  the  able  ex 
pounders  of  the  inductive  method  in  this  day  are 
Edward  A.  Sheldon,  John  M.  Milne,  Lambert  Sau- 
veur  and  Col.  Francis  W.  Parker. 

Owing  to  his  series  of  text  books  on  the  induc 
tive  plan,  to  his  skilled  service  as  a  lecturer  and  in 
ductive  trainer,  no  educator  has  had  a  greater  in 
fluence  in  promoting  this  method  than  William  J. 
Milne  of  the  New  York  State  Normal  College. 

The  inductive  method  of  teaching  is  not,  as  many 
suppose,  a  new  method  that  has  recently  come  into 
date.  It  is  a  method  that  has  been  growing  in  favor 
throughout  the  schools  of  this  and  other  nations  for 
years,  and  its  origin  dates  back  to  the  great  Grecian 
philosophers. 

Pythagoras  reasoned  inductively  Euclid  taught 
an  inductive  philosophy.  Socrates  was  a  true  in 
ductive  teacher. 

Bacon  of  England  and  Froebell  of  Germany,  as 
the  dark  ages  passed  away,  revived  the  natural 
method,  and  to-day  it  has  reached  a  state  of  perfec 
tion,  and  is  accomplishing  a  work  little  dreamed  of 
a  century  ago.  The  natural  method  is  based  upon 
certain  laws  of  acquiring  knowledge.  The  faculties 


INDUCTIVE  TEACHING.  177 

of  the  mind  should  be  trained  in  their  natural  order. 
The  idea  should  first  be  developed  and  then  the  words 
to  express  the  idea.  The  pupil  should  be  led  grad 
ually  from  what  he  knows  to  what  he  does  not 
know.  No  step  should  be  taken  in  the  dark. 

The  natural  method  does  not  burden  the  mind  of 
the  pupil  with  many  words  and  sentences,  the 
meaning  of  which  he  is  ignorant,  but  gives  him 
ideas  and  leaves  it  for  himself  to  devise  words  with 
which  to  express  them.  Inductive  method  instils 
logic,  self-reliance,  mental  development. 

Normal  educators  have  not  established  the  induc 
tive  method  without  difficulty.  Like  the  introduc 
tion  of  most  reforms,  this  of  inductive  teaching  has 
been  bitterly  opposed.  It  is  no  doubt  better  that 
this  was  so,  for,  reforms  established  by  strenuous 
efforts  are  lasting  reforms,  and  inductive  teaching 
is  now  so  thoroughly  planted  in  public  apprecia 
tion  that  no  amount  of  opposition  can  do  it  an  in 
jury. 


William  J.  Milne. 


COMMENCEMENT.  179 

Commencement   week  is   the  week 

... 
when  examinations  are  in  progress. 

mem.  These  examinations  are  of  vital  im 
portance  to  every  household,  for  they  decide  whether 
the  child,  during  the  past  year,  has  acquired  the  nec 
essary  mental  capacity  to  fit  him  for  promotion, 
or  whether  he  shall  remain  another  year  upon  the 
same  work.  We  only  know  that  objects  are  great 
or  small,  that  children  are  wise  or  simple,  by  com 
parison.  While  the  child  is  with  father  and  mother 
at  home,  every  little  effort,  every  simple  act  of  the 
child,  in  their  eyes  is  magnified  into  an  indisputa 
ble  proof  of  the  child's  smartness. 

When  your  child  enters  the  public  school,  it  at 
once  comes  in  contact  with  other  intellects.  There 
is  something  now  with  which  to  compare  its  mental 
capacity.  In  a  fewT  weeks  after  your  child  enters 
school,  the  teacher  knows  definitely  its  intellectual 
endowment.  The  teacher  views  your  offspring  un 
prejudiced,  for  your  child  is  no  more  to  the  teacher 
than  fifty  or  a  hundred  others,  Examination  week 
is  the  period  when  the  test  is  made,  in  order  to 
satisfy  you  and  the  public  of  your  child's  proficiency, 
and  so  thoughtful  parents,  parents,  led  little  by  pre 
judice  and  much  by  reason,  meditate  on  the  results 
of  these  public  tests,  and  do  not  seek  to  excuse  their 
child's  lack  of  mental  endowment  by  unfounded 
accusations  against  the  teacher  or  superintendent. 

Burns  said:  "To  see  ourselves  as  others  see  us." 
He  might  have  said,  to  see  our  children  as  others 
see  them. 


180  EDUCATIONAL  TALKS. 

Love  of  children  is  to  be  commended.  It  de 
velops  parents,  makes  them  broader  and  more  gen 
erous.  It  was  doubtless  implanted  by  God  for  the 
protection  and  perpetuation  of  the  race,  yet  all  this 
love  of  the  child  is  not  the  purest  love  as  it  is  a 
selfish  love.  The  more  the  parents  see  themselves 
reflected  in  their  child  the  more  intense  is  their 
love  for  it.  If  the  child  passes  a  good  examination, 
the  parents  claim  great  credit  as  if  it  were  inherited 
brains.  If  the  child  makes  a  miserable  failure,  the 
parents  seldom  trace  back  to  the  same  source,  but 
are  more  likely  to  attribute  it  to  lack  of  training 
on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  When  the  child  fails,  how 
much  better  it  would  be  for  the  parents  to  reason 
to  the  correct  source,  form  a  proper  estimate  of  their 
child's  ability,  and  in  the  future  make  up  with  home 
helps  for  that  with  which  it  has  not  been  endowed. 

How  much  better  when  the  child  succeeds,  for 
parents  to  give  the  teacher  the  credit,  and  show  in 
every  possible  way  their  appreciation  of  noble  work 
and  unselfish  devotion. 

Any  man  or  woman  who  devotes  this  life  to  the 
training  of  the  minds  and  morals  of  the  young  can 
not  be  paid  in  money.  Commencement  days  are 
not  only  busy  days  for  teachers,  they  are  hard  and 
trying  days.  The  burdens  of  the  year  have  been 
many  and  often  crushing,  and  your  child  has  occa 
sioned  its  due  share  of  anxiety  and  labor.  This  is 
the  week  when  you  should  take  the  teacher's  hand 
in  yours  and  express  your  gratitude.  You  would 
do  this  in  a  moment  to  one  who  might  bequeath 


COMMENCEMENT.  181 

your  child  a  moneyed  endowment,  how  much  more 
fitting  to  one  who  gives  your  child  mental  and 
moral  fitness. 

Attend  the  examinations.  Admire  the  work  of 
your  neighbor's  children.  Learn  if  possible,  where 
the  ivork  of  your  own  may  be  improved,  but  do  not 
leave  the  school  till  you  have  spoken  words  of 
thankfulness  to  your  child's  devoted  trainer. 


What  the  next  generation  is  to  be,  depends  upon 
what  the  school  teacher  may  decide  to  teach  the 
young  of  to-day. 

The  ennobling  effect  of  music  is  not  sufficiently 
appreciated.  It  requires  less  law  and  a  smaller  po 
lice  force  to  control  any  city  where  the  refining  and 
elevating  influence  of  musicians  is  felt.  Educate  a 
child  properly  in  music,  and  it  will  develop  into  a 
person  with  more  heart,  a  deeper,  broader,  and 
more  appreciative  soul. 


A  change  has  come  in  the  custom  of  young 
women  wearing  silk  or  satin  for  graduation  in  pub 
lic  schools.  In  America  where  schools  are  free, 
nearly  every  graduation  class  is  composed  of  some 
not  able  to  purchase  an  expensive  trousseau,  and 
so  young  women  from  wealthy  homes,  but  with 
sympathetic  hearts,  have  discarded  satin,  and  on 
graduation  night  a  simple  gown  of  plain  white, 
dotted  Swiss  or  India  mull  is  proper. 


182  EDUCATIONAL  TALKS. 

~      -,  Graduation   is   a  great  ev7ent   in   a 

(graduation.  i     ,,     Vr.        S  ^ 

student  s    lire,      r  or  a    decade    or 

more,  you  have  toiled  and  plodded  and  contended 
in  your  school  career.  At  length  you  are  a  senior, 
and  you  enter  upon  your  final  year  at  the  public 
school. 

Weeks  and  months  slip  away.  Graduation  night 
is  here.  Class  and  faculty  and  dignitaries  of  the 
city  are  filing  to  their  places  on  the  rostrum.  How 
your  heart  throbs  with  the  excitement  of  the  event. 
How  the  hearts  of  your  fond  parents  in  the  audi 
ence  throb  with  pride  for  you. 

Now  you  are  standing  in  the  glare  of  the  foot 
lights  looking  down  into  the  eyes  of  the  audience. 
You  are  beginning  your  oration.  Fans  vibrate. 
The  perfume  of  flowers  comes  heavy  to  your  senses. 
There  is  mother  looking  up  with  joy  and  sympathy. 
Old  neighbors  are  listening  to  your  words  with 
eagerness. 

You  are  approaching  the  last  lines,  the  lines  which 
had  your  greatest  effort,  the  lines  upon  which  you 
spent  hours  of  labor.  You  have  given  them.  It  is 
over.  The  air  is  full  of  handkerchiefs.  Now  the 
feeling  of  fear  and  trepidation  which  you  experi 
enced  earlier  in  the  evening  have  changed  to  pride 
at  your  applauded  effort.  You  can't  repress  smiles 
of  satisfaction.  Mother  smiles  too,  and  brushes 
away  a  tear  of  thankfulness  that  God  has  given  her 
this  intelligent  child. 

The  class  is  standing,  and  as  their  names  are 
called,  each  receives  his  diploma  tied  with  ribbon, 


GRADUATION.  183 

the  document  which  is  the  printed  proof  of  toil  and 
struggle  and  at  last  victory.  The  words  of  advice 
which  follow  sink  deep  into  your  mind  and  heart. 
You  resolve  to  be  noted  in  the  world,  to  see  foreign 
lands,  write  other  orations,  and  be  a  person  of 
power,  of  influence,  and  of  great  and  noble  deeds. 

The  audience  is  dismissed.  A  score  of  men  and 
women  in  turn  are  taking  you  by  the  hand  and  say 
ing  true  and  feeling  things.  There  is  much  commo 
tion,  and  you  hardly  realize  whether  you  are  shak 
ing  hands  with  a  minister,  a  member  of  the  board, 
or  some  relative  who  has  traveled  miles  to  witness 
your  graduation.  There  is  the  underflow  of  thought 
all  the  time  which  keeps  saying:  "It  is  worth  my 
struggle.  Had  I  labored  fifty  instead  of  ten  years, 
to-night  would  repay  me  for  it  all." 

It  is  the  morning  after  graduation.  Banked 
about  the  centre  table  are  the  baskets  of  flowers. 
Father  and  mother,  and  the  little  ones  who  now 
surely  expect  to  graduate  some  day,  are  coilected 
in  a  group  scrutinizing  the  diploma.  The  signature 
of  the  president  of  the  board  is  compared  with  that 
of  the  superintendent.  Your  own  name  up  in  the 
middle  is  studied  most,  and  father  explains  how 
near  they  came  to  naming  you  something  else,  and 
mother  declares  how  glad  she  is  that  they  didn't. 
This  name  is  now  dearer  to  her  than  any  other.  All 
wonder  which  paper  will  contain  the  best  report  of 
the  graduation,  and  they  calculate  to  whom  they 
must  send  the  account. 

To-day  it  doesn't  seem  possible  that  this  event 


184  EDUCATIONAL  TALKS. 

could  ever  become  an  old  event,  an  event  whose 
memories  could  be  dimmed  by  the  haze  of  fleeting 
years. 

The  streets  and  skies  and  landscapes  of  yesterday 
all  appear  .changed  to-day.  You  are  a  graduate 
now.  As  you  pass  down  the  street,  you  feel  it 
would  be  mean  to  look  back,  as  you  think  there 
are  faces  at  the  window  who  have  seen  you,  and 
that  people  are  saying:  "There  goes  one  of  our 
graduates.  We  are  proud  of  him."  You  meet  an 
acquaintance  who  did  not  congratulate  you  last 
night,  and  he  is  saying  complimentary  things. 
Passers  turn  to  hear  them  and  inquire  of  each  other 
who  you  are.  You  hear  the  reply,  "One  of  our 
graduates,"  and  your  generous  heart  is  moved  with 
sympathy  for  anybody  who  never  graduated. 

This  day,  the  happiest  of  your  life,  is  over,  and 
you  wonder  if  all  the  days  of  a  graduate's  life  are 
so  sweet.  You  take  the  press  reports  to  your  room, 
read  and  re-read  the  accounts  till  late  into  the  night. 

Other  days  come.  Weeks  slip  away.  At  last 
there  are  intervals  when  you  forget  you  are  a  grad 
uate.  Being  a  graduate  has  become  such  a  com 
mon,  such  an  ordinary  thing,  that  you  don't  hear 
father  and  mother  tell  of  it  with  the  pride  you 
once  did. 

You  are  active  in  business,  in  the  affairs  of  the 
world.  There  are  cares  and  sorrows,  present  joys 
and  happiness,  and  it  seldom  occurs  to  you  that  you 
are  a  graduate.  If  perchance  it  does,  you  are  obliged 
to  reckon  up  to  determine  which  was  your  class. 


GRADUATION.  185 

Father  and  mother  have  both  graduated  from  the 
school  of  earth.  You  realize  that  you  must  follow 
them,  and  that  graduation  now  occupies  your  mind 
most. 

What  father  and  mother  were  to  you  the  night 
you  graduated,  you  are  to  others  now.  You  are 
completing  the  circle.  You  think  what  a  school 
earth  is  for  heaven.  You  understand  that  God 
couldn't  use  you  there  till  he  had  first  drilled  you 
here.  Every  year  you  love  more  the  hand  that  has 
chastened  you,  purged  your  life  of  the  bavser  metal. 
So  we  all  pass  to  the  final  graduation. 


186  CHURCH  TALKS', 


CHURCH  TALKS. 


Church         A  majority  of  the  cultured  people  of 

^   "  ..  city  and  country  are  in  attendance 

Ctenfilalion.      at  Christian  churches  on  Sunday. 

Ushers  meet  them  at  the  door  to   welcome  them, 

and  to  show  them  to  seats. 

This  office  of  the  usher  is  all  well  and  good.  It 
renders  him  a  prominent  personage  in  connection 
with  the  service,  but  most  people  in  this  age  know 
they  are  welcome  in  the  house  of  God,  and  where 
seats  are  free,  as  they  are  at  most  churches,  the  wor 
shipers  could  readily  select  seats  for  themselves. 
There  is  one  far  more  important  duty  of  the  usher 
than  welcoming  the  people.  It  is  to  see  that  the 
church  is  supplied  with  abundance  of  fresh  air. 

The  main  audience  room  of  the  average  church, 
containing  all  the  foul  air  accumulated  during 
the  day,  is  closed  by  the  sexton  after  the  evening 
service  Sunday,  and  not  again  opened  for  a  week. 
In  the  meantime  the  impure  air  becomes  stagnant, 
for  it  is  well  known  that  most  churches  have  no 
scientific  means  of  ventilation.  The  germs  of  dis 
ease,  shut  up  in  the  vile  air  of  the  church  for  six 
days,  multiply,  and,  on  Sunday  morning,  the  au- 


CHURCH  VENTILATION.  187 

dience  take  their  places  in  more  poisonous  and  con 
taminating  air  than  they  left  a  week  before 

Why,  because  people  desire  to  attend  church, 
should  they  be  deprived  of  fresh  air?  In  the  usher's 
eagerness  to  display  his  elegant  suit  and  immac 
ulate  linen,  why  endanger  the  health  of  the  wor 
shipers? 

It  is  right  to  preach  much  about  sins  of  commis 
sion,  but  here  is  one  of  omission  which  the  Christian 
minister  ought  to  handle  with  fervor  and  with 
energy.  No  minister  could  do  justice  to  such  a 
theme  in  vile  atmosphere.  No  congregation  could 
properly  receive  such  a  burning  discourse  as  this 
needs  in  any  but  a  well  ventilated  church. 

Christ,  not  only  most  perfect  of  all  men  morally, 
but  most  profound  of  all  men  mentally,  seldom  en 
tered  a  church,  but  gave  his  sermons  in  the  open 
air,  from  mountain  peaks,  by  silver  lakes.  Christ 
did  everything  with  a  purpose,  a  definite  intent, 
and  no  doubt  he  took  his  audiences  into  the  pure, 
sweet  air  of  heaven,  that  he  might  have  more  active 
and  receptive  intellects  for  the  impressive  truths 
he  had  to  present. 

So  give  the  worshipers  pure  air.  Pure  air  is  the 
element  upon  which  man  exists.  Ventilate  the 

churches. 

&  %  $  ®  & 

Impure  air  is  heavier  and  sinks  to  the  bottom  of 
the  room.  A  church  with  a  ventilator  in  the  ceil 
ing  is  a  relic  of  a  less  intelligent  decade  than 
this. 


188  CHURCH  TALKS. 

Q  11    ,1      Some  people  have  an  incorrect  idea  of 
^     rest,  of  the  use  of  the  Sabbath.  Desce;id- 

K*Sl.  ants  of  the  Puritans,  and  some  who 
imbibed  their  customs,  straighten  down  their  faces 
and  lock  the  piano  on  Saturday  night,  and  there  is 
no  more  music  or  jollity  in  or  about  the  establish 
ment  till  the  next  Monday  morning.  No  one  either 
rests  or  serves  God  by  acting  that  way.  It  is  not  in 
accord  with  nature. 

For  a  person  to  rest,  he  must  simply  get  out  of 
the  old  tread-mill  in  which  he  has  been  placed  for 
six  days,  and  get  his  mind  away  from  the  worry  and 
anxiety  of  business  perplexities. 

Music,  entertaining  reading,  interesting  con 
versation,  and  walks  among  the  beauties  of  nature, 
the  birds,  trees,  and  flowers,  all  God's  creations, 
enable  one  to  best  accomplish  this.  The  worst 
Sabbath  breakers  are  the  men  or  women  who  grind 
all  joyousness,  all  happiness,  out  of  their  homes  on 
Sunday. 

$  ®  %  %  % 

Sunday  is  a  great  blessing.  Purely  from  a  world 
ly  standpoint  it  ought  not  to  be  utilized  in  labor. 
Burdened  with  the  work  and  worry  of  the  week, 
Sunday  comes  to  one  as  a  golden  opportunity  for 
mental  and  moral  improvement.  If  Sunday  be 
properly  utilized,  the  remainder  of  the  week  be 
comes  a  greater  source  of  pleasure  to  the  individual, 
for,  as  the  mind  is  made  better  and  more  intelli 
gent,  the  capacity  for  enjoyment  is  proportionally 
increased. 


SABBATH  BEST.  189 

^     .          Christians  should  be  too  liberal,  broad, 
**au   s      and  generous  to  scorn  being  told  of 

— ,    .  theirown,  orthe  faults  of  theirchurch. 

ItlpiSttaiis.  «Those  are  our  Mends  who  tell  us  of 

our  faults."  In  this  age  intelligent  Christians  do 
not  claim  salvation  on  the  ground  of  their  own  per 
fection,  on  the  ground  of  their  own  good  deeds,  but 
owing  to  their  belief  in  a  Savior  kind,  pitying,  and 
merciful.  Hence  true  Christians  constantly  labor 
not  only  to  strengthen  their  belief,  but  to  eradicate 
their  faults,  if  they  are  church  members,  the  faults 
also  of  their  church.  They  can  only  correct  faults 
by  knowing  them,  hence  they  honor  the  speaker  or 
the  book  which  points  our  their  mistakes.  There 
is  a  very  old  book  that  teaches,  "He  that  hateth 
reproof  is  brutish.'7 

This  generation  is  so  occupied  in  earning  a  com 
petence,  righting  wrongs,  and  executing  projects, 
private  and  public,  that  often  the  entertainment 
and  instruction  of  the  next  generation  are  neglected. 
In  the  matter  of  healthful  amusement,  every  church 
owes  its  young  people  a  duty.  Girls  and  boys  can 
not  be  kept  where  they  may  constantly  feel  the 
effect  of  good  influences,  unless  systematic  plans 
for  that  purpose  are  laid  and  executed.  Early 
training  is  the  training  that  avails  most,  is  most  en 
during.  The  church,  the  school,  and  the  home  should 
be  incomplete  harmony  in  their  work  for  the  young 
and  in  all,  there  should  be  a  place  for  amusement 
as  well  as  mental  and  moral  instruction. 


190  CHURCH  TALKS. 

Vi      ^  church  calendar  recently   said: 
"Put  a  few  twenty-five  cent  pieces 


in  the  plate  to.day  „    Thig  ig 

bad  suggestion  from  many  standpoints.  Different 
people  have  various  ideas  as  to  the  object  of  the 
church  collection.  The  great  honor  of  small  givings 
has  been  preached  about  till  some  suppose  small 
givings  are  more  creditable  than  large. 

Some  suppose  the  collection  is  a  religious  rite  in 
which  the  jingling  should  be  occasioned  by  pennies 
and  nickels.  Others  get  the  idea  that  the  object  of 
the  collection  is  to  give  two  well  dressed  .ushers  an 
opportunity  to  march  to  slow  music  and  display 
themselves.  But  few  seem  to  realize  that  the  trust 
ees,  with  the  collection,  are  trying  to  secure  funds 
to  pay  the  running  expenses  of  the  church,  and  that 
quarters,  halves,  and  dollars  are  just  the  thing  for 

a  church  collection. 

<&  &  $>  %>  & 

Moral  men  support  moral  projects.  Men  are 
known  by  what  they  patronize. 


People  show  culture  by  exhibiting  a  due  regard 
for  sacred  things.  That  so  many  people  attend 
churches  is  a  proof  of  the  refined  condition  of  society. 


It  is  impossible  to  divorce  politics  and  religion. 
Impure  politics  contaminate  the  state,  and  when 
the  state  is  corrupted  the  church  must  be  effected, 
for,  the  people  who  comprise  the  state  form  the 
church. 


CHURCH  RESPONSIBILITY.  191 


(Trmrcri  ^n  these  ^ays  mucn  criticism  is 
directed  toward  religious  teachers. 
Responsibility.  The  pastor  is  held  responsible  for 
many  church  affairs  and  conditions.  Church  con 
gregations  are  inclined  to  hold  themselves  respon 
sible  for  but  little.  They  are  inclined  to  hold  their 
pastor  responsible  for  much.  It  is  well  for  church 
attendants  to  remember  that  no  pastor  can  be  very 
enthusiastic,  eloquent,  and  impressive,  if  his  con 
gregation  is  half  asleep  or  if  its  members  indi 
cate  by  countenance  and  attitude  that  their  minds 
are  elsewhere, 

Any  speaker  draws  his  inspiration  from  his  au 
dience.  No  one  can  address  with  profit  people 
inattentive,  stupid,  and  comatose.  If  a  person  can't 
be  in  an  active  mental  state  seven  days  in  the 
week,  it  is  a  duty  he  owes  to  himself  and  his  pastor 
to  be  thoughtful  and  meditative  during  the  address 

on  Sunday. 

&  &  *  *  * 

Any  person  who  attemps  to  teach  others  should 
have  a  correct  knowledge  of  conditions  which  can 
only  be  acquired  through  travel.  The  influence  of 
teachers  and  ministers  is  great  or  small  according 
as  the  people  have  confidence  in  their  ability.  The 
public  gives  little  or  much  weight  to  a  statement, 
in  proportion  as  the  person  making  it  has  had  the 
opportunity  to  see  and  know.  As  the  world  grows 
more  intelligent,  the  demand  for  teachers,  secular 
and  religious,  who  have  knowledge  gained  from 
other  sources  than  books,  increases. 


192  CHURCH  TALKS. 

Snfelliaence     ^  critic  of  church  services,  said,  that 
*  the  music  rendered  at  church  is  a 

at  LnurcH'  commonly  given  reason  for  the 
crowded  pews.  As  regretabie  as  is  the  fact,  it  is  yet 
true,  that  in  every  church  congregation  there  are 
people  present  whose  principal  object  is  some  other 
than  the  mental  and  moral  inspiration  of  the  ser 
mon.  This  class  of  church  attendants  may  have 
no  special  dislike  for  the  minister  or  his  methods. 
In  truth,  if  the  sermons  are  not  long,  and,  if  outside 
the  pulpit,  the  pastor  is  social  and  entertaining, 
these  persons  may  be  among  his  most  earnest  sup 
porters. 

While  the  sermon  is  in  progress,  it  is  not  always 
possible  to  locate  the  class  who  do  not  care  for  the 
sermon.  Alive  to  the  protection  of  their  own  re 
spectability,  they  sit  erect,  gaze  at  the  preacher,  and 
appear  as  knowing  as  it  is  possible  for  any  one  to 
appear  in  a  public  assembly  where  men  and  women, 
like  the  seats  they  occupy,  are  placed  in  rows 
facing  one  way,  dumb  to  their  neighbors  and  indif- 
erent  to  their  surroundings. 

In  most  instances,  the  persons  who  will  listen  to 
a  sermon,  with  no  comprehension  or  appreciation 
of  its  merits  or  demerits,  are  those  whose  early 
training  in  home  and  school  never  taught  them  to 
think  and  meditate  and  recollect.  They  are  likely 
to  belong  to  the  class  who  talk  much  and  say  little. 
They  are  likely  to  be  persons  of  words  instead  of 
thoughts.  Their  minds  have  never  known  the 
pleasure  of  conceiving  ideas.  Their  highest  con- 


INTELLIGENCE  AT  CHURCH.  193 

versational   enjoyment  is    in    repeating   incidents 
rather  than  in  giving  expression  to  mind  concepts. 

One  is  never  too  old  to  learn,  never  too  matured 
to  reform,  never  too  superficial  to  begin  to  study, 
to  conceive  ideas,  to  digest  ideas  conceived  by 
others,  to  remember,  reason,  compare,  conclude. 

They  who  do  not,  should  form  the  habit  of  listen 
ing  to  the  sermon,  not  its  spoken  words,  but  its  logic, 
thought,  and  argument.  That  will  enable  the  indi 
vidual,  not  only  to  repeat  the  idea  of  the  text,  but 
to  give  a  synopsis  of  the  foundation  plan,  proof,  and 
purpose  of  the  entire  discourse. 

It  is  the  mind,  often  called  the  soul,  that  is  eter 
nal.  To  expand  the  mind  is  to  enlarge  the  soul. 
It  is  wicked  not  to  think.  It  is  a  crime  not  to  rea 
son.  It  is  a  sin  not  to  remember.  Capacity  for 
heavenly  enjoyment  is  measured  by  earthly  intel 
ligence.  Listen.  Consider.  Cultivate  the  mind. 
Understand  and  remember  the  sermon. 
&,  &  &  &  & 

Much  is  said  about  inattentive  church  attendants. 
None  too  much  is  said  on  that  subject  if  it  will  make 
congregations  more  observant  and  thoughtful,  but 
inattention  may  be  a  result  of  a  lack  of  true  and 
inspiring  thoughts  graphically  illustrated  by  the 
minister.  The  pastor  should  know  his  congrega 
tion,  and  grade  his  discourse  so  that  it  may  reach 
and  influence  the  people.  Common  sense  and  reli 
gion  are  as  essential  in  the  pulpit  as  in  business. 
The  successful  pastor  is  the  one  who  has  not  only 
ability,  but  judgment  and  tact  at  his  command.  , 


194  CHURCH  TALKS. 

Most   church   attendants  think.     They 


~  may  make  observations  of  the  audience. 

'n-  They  may  listen  to  preludes  and  inter 
ludes,  and  be  pleased.  They  may  admire  church 
decorations,  and  notice  even  the  conduct  of  ushers 
and  musical  performers,  but  they  are  at  church  for 
the  sermon,  its  mental  and  moral  encouragements 
and  inspirations,  and  of  the  sermon  most  people 
are  attentive,  thoughtful,  appreciative 

In  these  days,  many  who  listen  to  an  able  dis 
course  can  afterwards  reproduce  from  memory  its 
principal  thoughts,  its  important  illustrations,  its 
convincing  arguments.  A  synopsis  of  the  sermon 
in  print  is  again  of  interest  next  day,  not  only  to  the 
congregation  who  heard  the  sermon,  but  to  the  gen 
eral  public  who  do  not  attend  church,  or  who  were 
in  attendance  at  some  other  church  denomination. 

There  are  two  avenues  to  the  mind,  one  through 
the  ear,  but  another  fully  as  convenient,  and  carry 
ing  impressions  that  are  often  retained  longer, 
through  the  eye.  People  who  are  much  enter 
tained  in  a  religious  theme,  and  who  desire  to  re 
tain  its  chief  ideas  permanently,  if  unable  to 
remember  them  from  the  spoken  discourse,  yet  have 
another  and  a  better  opportunity  when  the  daily 
press  reproduces  a  synopsis.  After  an  impressive 
sermon  has  been  produced,  the  more  minds  it 
reaches,  the  more  is  its  likelihood  of  influencing 
arid  benefiting.  The  minister  who  ignores  the 
services  of  the  daily  press  narrows  the  possibilities 
for  good  of  his  sermon. 


THE  SERMON.  195 

No  one  becomes  learned  from  hearing  much.  One 
becomes  learned  from  remembering  much.  The 
average  sermon  is  not  only  a  moral  influence,  it  is 
an  intellectual  inspiration.  It  benefits  most  the 
person  who  remembers  it  best.  The  sermon  should 
be  heard,  read,  remembered. 


Most  people  hard  pressed  with  work  and  worry 
for  six  days,  look  forward  to  Sunday  with  feelings 
of  thankfulness  and  satisfaction.  Sunday  is  the 
golden  mile-stone  of  the  wreek. 


Children's  day,  the  second  Sunday  of  June,  is 
every  year  becoming  a  more  important  event  among 
churches,  it  is  recognized  as  Flower  Sunday,  and  the 
display  of  flowers  often  equals  that  of  Easter. 


Out  doors  one  is  in  touch  with  nature,  with 
health,  with  heaven.  It  is  well  to  worship  in  church 
es.  One  may  worship  in  fields,  in  glens,  in  for 
ests.  Bryant  said:  "The  groves  were  God's  first 
temples." 

Church  attendance  has  a  civilizing  and  refining 
influence  upon  any  man  or  woman.  Every  item 
connected  with  church  attendance  tends  to  make 
one  better.  To  array  the  person  in  presentable  con 
dition,  to  make  the  heart  right  to  receive  moral  im 
pressions,  and  the  mind  fit  for  mental  influences, 
all  this  improves  the  individual. 


CHURCH  TALKS. 


Most  ministers  Preach  a 
brine  to   the   efiect    that    the 

£  £  -1 

forces  ot  good  and  evil  are 
arrayed  like  two  contending  armies.  If  that  be 
true,  and  the  church  is  a  citadel  being  stormed  by 
Satan  and  his  allies,  then  it  certainly  would  be 
foolish  to  fortify  with  any  other  than  the  latest  im 
proved  devices.  That  means  modern  prayers, 
modern  music,  modern  sermons,  with  modern  in 
telligence  to  regulate  and  manipulate  the  defense. 
A  church  is  not  so  much  different  from  other  en 
terprises  but  that  ignorance  will  throttle  it,  while 
intelligence  will  prosper  it.  No  use  to  give  the 
devil  all  the  advantage  of  modern  appliances  and 
then  try  to  whip  him.  For  man  to  successfully  cope 
with  an  adversarv  that  defies  the  Lord  himself,  he 
certainly  needs  every  assistance  of  this  enlightened 
age. 


They  called  the  social  held  at  a  church  chapel  a 
Longfellow  social.  There  were  many  selections 
from  the  works  of  this  poet,  and  the  musical  selec 
tions  were  his  poems  set  to  tunes  arranged  by 
musical  composers.  If  church  socials  were  devoted 
to  the  study  of  good  authors,  young  people  would 
gain  inspiring  thoughts,  noble  motives,  and  they 
would  never  be  actuated  to  devote  life  entirely  to 
gayeties.  Amusements  engaged  in  without  a  pur 
pose  behind  them  do  not  leave  pleasant  recollec 
tions.  A  church  social  with  no  mercenary  motive  is 
commendable. 


CHTRCH  ATTRACTIONS,  197 


Church          ^°  Person>  no  organization,   can 
^  afford  to  live  behind   the  times. 

Attractions.     TMs  ig  an  age  of  changeSjr  of  in_ 

novations,  of  improvements.  People  who  expect 
to  be  successful  must  utilize  the  advantages  of  the 
age.  People  who  will  not  conform  to  the  changed 
conditions  common  on  every  hand  must  not  com 
plain  if  they  are  left  at  the  rear. 

Churches  must  conform  to  the  new  conditions. 
There  was  a  day  when  no  instrumental  music,  even 
that  to  accompany  the  hymns,  was  allowed  in  the 
orthodox  churches.  In  isolated  localities,  that  is  yet 
a  custom.  Most  churches  have  now  adopted  organ 
music  for  the  accompaniments.  Some  churches 
utilize  even  a  fair  sized  orchestra. 

Churches  are  realizing  now  more  than  ever  their 
proper  mission.  They  realize  that  humanity  can 
not  be  forced  into  being  good.  They  realize  that 
humanity  must  be  influenced,  persuaded,  led  into 
righteousness.  For  this  purpose  churches  and  church 
services  must  be  made  attractive. 

Men  and  women  and  children  can  not  be  instruct 
ed  till  they  are  first  entertained.  It  is  human  na 
ture  to  desire  entertainment.  Religious  teachers 
must  conform  to  natural  methods  in  their  work  if 
they  hope  to  be  successful. 

Religious  teachers  can  not  hope  to  convert  souls 
until  they  get  the  people  to  the  church  services. 
They  can  only  hope  to  get  the  people  to  the  church 
services  by  making  the  services  enthusiastic,  attrac 
tive,  entertaining.  The  minister  who  complains 


198  CHURCH  TALKS. 

that  his  people  are  oftener  at  the  opera  than  at  his 
church,  doesn't  compliment  his  own  ability  as  a 
pastor.  He  admits  that  he  allows  the  manager  of 
the  opera  to  surpass  him  in  attracting  the  people. 
Even  so  entertaining  a  minister  as  T.  De  Witt 
Talmage  resorted  to  a  cornet  in  order  to  bring  the 
people  to  hear  his  sermons. 

Russell  H.  Conwell  has  made  his  church  the  cen 
tre  of  attractive  entertainments  that  he  might  fill 
the  pews  of  the  Temple,  and  bring  six  thousand 
people  within  the  reach  of  his  voice.  This  is  not 
only  policy,  it  is  common  sense,  for  what  is  the  pas 
tor's  mission  if  not  to  save  souls? 

The  Man  of  Galilee,  the  only  ideal  minister,  the 
type  for  all,  first  attracted  the  masses  that  he  might 
save  the  masses.  To  attract  the  masses,  he  resorted 
to  the  strange  and  unusual.  He  turned  water  into 
wine.  He  told  strangers  all  that  they  had  ever 
known  or  done.  He  walked  upon  the  waves.  Thou 
sands  came,  and  he  fed  them  with  a  few  loaves  and 
fishes. 

Fill  the  churches.  If  this  can  best  be  done  with 
solos  and  quartettes  and  choruses,  then  use  these. 
If  best  with  cornet  and  violin  and  clarionet,  use 
these.  If  best  with  fife  and  drum,  then  fife  and 
drum  were  never  used  for  a  worthier,  nobler  pur 
pose. 

Attract  the  people  within  the  hearing  of  the 
gospel  that  they  may  be  saved  by  the  gospel.  Let 
there  be  less  vacant  pews  in  the  churches  on  earth 
that  there  may  be  a  grander  host  in  heaven. 


Russell  Ho  Conwell 


200  CHURCH  TALKS. 

All  institutions  make  mistakes.  The 
Ritualism.  cnurcn  bas  not  beer])  js  not  now  infal 
lible.  The  church  has  learned  much  by  experience. 
The  church  has  profited  by  discoveries,  by  inven 
tions,  by  the  more  generous  and  liberal  views  of 
humanity.  The  very  ideas  which,  during  the  mid 
dle  ages,  were  thought  detrimental  and  destructive 
to  the  church,  when  well  understood,  have  proved 
its  blessing. 

A  perfect  age  does  not  spring  into  existence  in  a 
day.  Most  good  things  are  the  result  of  a  gradual 
growth.  Some  relics  of  dark  ages  yet  exist  in  con 
nection  with  the  church,  but  in  the  more  intelligent 
communities  they  are  fast  disappearing. 

The  average  American  church  attendant  reads 
and  thinks.  His  mind  is  developed.  Form,  manner, 
ceremony  of  any  kind,  no  longer  impress  or  awe 
him.  He  recognizes  them  at  once  as  a  relic  of  a 
worse  age  than  this,  and  they  disgust  him. 

The  religious  teacher,  be  he  Protestant  or  Catho 
lic,  who  has  ideas  and  expresses  them  clearly  and 
forcibly  is  listened  to  in  these  days  by  thinking 
men  and  women  who  are  thoroughly  competent 
to  weigh,  compare,  and  conclude.  They  judge 
the  Sunday  discourse  upon  its  merits.  The  min 
ister  with  true  and  inspiring  thoughts  does  not 
scatter  pearls  before  swine.  They  reach  intellects 
competent  to  appreciate  them. 

Long  prayers  dealing  with  foreign  subjects,  as 
though,  "They  shall  be  heard  for  their  much  speak 
ing,"  sermons  treating  of  the  abstract  and  the  am- 


RITTJALISM.  201 

biguous  are  no  longer  either  popular  or  serviceable 
or  useful,  and  ministers  who  insist  upon  talking 
much  and  saying  little  are  readily  understood,  and 
they  find  employment  only  in  isolated  localities 
whose  inhabitants  do  not  read  and  reason.  Hall 
and  Vincent,  Parkhurst  and  Satolli,  as  well  as  men 
less  noted,  but  with  ideas  and  convictions,  have.been 
in  demand  among  the  thinkers,  and  their  influence 
and  usefulness  have  been  in  proportion  to  the  qual 
ity  of  their  thought  and  their  clearness  and  ear 
nestness  in  expressing  it. 

The  church  is  doing  more  good  to-day  than  ever 
before,  because  ministers  have  more  intelligent 
audiences,  because  audiences  have  more  intelligent 
ministers.  It  is  a  grand  church  for  the  age.  It  is 
a  grand  age  for  the  church.  Attitude  and  plati 
tude,  ritualism  and  mysticism  are  vanishing.  Every 
decade  the  church  conforms  nearer  to  its  great 
model,  the  Man  of  Galilee. 

&  %  &  &  $ 

You  will  miss  it  if  you  undertake  to  measure  a 
man's  religion  by  the  length  of  his  face. 


Of  all  that  has  been  said  of  the  peculiar  traits  of 
man,  one-half  the  depth  and  breadth  of  man's  pre 
judice  has  never  been  accounted  for. 


Lammas  comes  from  the  Anglo  Saxon  and  means 
bread.  Lammas  Day  is  a  day  of  religious  observ 
ance.  It  is  a  feast  day,  and  bread  is  the  ingredient- 
used  by  the  worshipers. 


202  CHURCH  TALKS. 

Proselxrtism  ^  minister  said,  that  the  meanest 
person  on  earth,  or  next  to  it,  is  a 
church  proselyter.  This  remark  no  doubt  had  re 
ference  to  one  who  would  build  up  a  new  church 
denomination  by  securing  the  converts  from  other 
churches,  instead  of  making  them  from  the  great 
masses  of  the  unconverted. 

There  is  so  much  evil  in  the  world,  so  much  good 
waiting  for  the  earnest,  the  skillful,  and  the  in 
dustrious  to  accomplish,  that  it  seems  there  could 
be  no  excuse  for  one  worker  intruding  upon  the 
legitimate  field  of  another.  Nothing,  either  in  reli 
gion  or  politics,  so  arouses  the  leaders  as  desertion 
from  the  regular  ranks,  especially  when  it  is  in 
spired  by  intruders.  This  has  given  rise  to  bitter 
epithets  such  as  proselyter,  mugwump,  and  the  like. 

After  a  leader  has  once  acquired  the  habit  of 
commanding,  he  is  likely  to  be  extremely  severe 
with  any  who  desire  to  join  the  forces  of  a  rival. 
A  rival  leader  is  inclined  to  be  most  agreeable  to 
any  who  desert  other  ranks  to  join  his  own. 

As  a  matter  of  consolation  to  religious  and  polit 
ical  leaders  who  have  been  thus  deprived  of  what 
they  considered  legitimately  theirs,  it  might  be  well 
for  them  to  bear  in  mind  that  those  who  desert  and 
pursue  a  bubble,  would  have  been  of  but  little 
service  had  they  remained.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
by  deserting  they  are  attaining  to  something  better, 
then  honest  hearts  can  certainly  wish  them  no  ill. 

For  a  leader  to  exhibit  bitterness  and  hatred  at  a 
rival's  success,  even  if  it  be  to  the  detriment  of  his 


PKOSELYTISM.  203 

own,  engenders  mistrust,  lack  of  confidence  in  his 
ability  to  lead.  The  leader  who  attracts  followers 
is  the  one  who  is  brave  and  uncomplaining  under 
difficulties. 

Only  in  war  is  it  necessary  to  impose  extreme 
punishment  upon  deserters.  In  both  religion  and 
politics,  unless  those  who  desert  find  noble  inspira 
tions  and  worthy  causes  for  their  support  in  the 
new  field,  they  soon  return  to  the  old  fold,  and  the 
knowledge  of  having  wandered,  the  experience  en 
gendered,  render  them  doubly  repentant. 


It  is  safe  to  assert  that  no  religious  organization 
has  ever  had  a  broader  influence  for  good  than  the 
Salvation  Army,  but  unity  is  the  absolute  essential 
to  prosperity  in  the  home  or  in  the  church.  It  is 
too  often  the  history  of  families,  that  what  the 
parent  founds  and  prospers,  the  children,  through 
selfishness  and  jealousy,  destroy. 


A  feature  adopted  by  some  Christian  churches  is 
a  pulpit  editorial.  This  idea  of  an  editorial,  or  a  short 
address  on  some  secular  subject  at  the  opening  of 
the  Sunday  morning  service,  has  been  an  established 
custom  with  Thomas  A.  Dixon,  Jr.,  the  preacher 
and  lecturer  of  New  York  City,  for  several  years. 
Some  who  would  not  otherwise  attend  church  are 
thus  attracted  to  hear  an  every-day  topic  of  interest 
discussed.  After  a  habit  of  church  going  is  once 
formed,  such  people  become  regular  attendants. 


204  CHURCH  TALKS. 

Most  ministers  consider  it  a  duty  to  se- 
]ecj.  foe  subject  Of  their  discourse  from 
the  Bible.  The  Bible  is  a  big  book  written  by  a 
great  number  of  men.  They  lived  centuries  apart 
in  the  world's  history.  They  recorded  their  thoughts 
in  different  languages.  They  wrote  upon  a  variety 
of  subjects.  The  book  has  become  a  volume  greatly 
reverenced  by  Christians.  It  is  natural  that  min 
isters  should  ever  preface  their  sermons,  no  matter 
in  what  line  they  propose  to  talk,  with  an  appro 
priate  quotation  from  the  Bible.  Most  officers  of 
churches  require  this.  Congregations  expect  it. 

Great  sermons  have  been  delivered  from  no  par 
ticular  Biblical  text.  It  is  said,  that  many  a  modern 
minister,  infused  with  a  great  truth,  and  inspired 
with  the  importance  of  impressing  it  upon  the 
hearts  and  minds  of  his  hearers,  prepares  his  dis 
course,  and  then  searches  for  the  appropriate  Bible- 
text  to  accompany  it.  In  such  instances,  the  text 
serves  rather  to  gratify  the  tastes  and  prejudices  of 
the  congregation,  than  as  an  aid  to  the  minister. 

There  are  ministers  who,  in  the  light  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  deny  the  literal  inspiration  of 
the  Bible.  They  claim  to  be  searchers  of  the  truth, 
and  they  maintain  that  the  Bible  will  do  more  good, 
if  presented  to  the  people  in  a  true  and  honest  light, 
than  if  exaggerated  and  misre preserved.  Such 
ministers  consider  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  as 
allegory  and  fable.  For  this  reason  they  do  not 
value  them  of  less  importance,  but  place  a  high 
estimate  upon  them  as  adding  to  the  historical  in- 


TEXTS.  205 

terest  of  the  Book,  as  contributing  to  its  literary 
merits. 

Saul  of  Tarsus  was  one  of  the  greatest  ministers. 
Holy  Writ  was  at  his  disposal,  but  his  sermons 
began  without  it.  He  wrought  as  an  evangelist, 
wrote  letters  to  people  and  to  nations,  discussed 
Bible  themes,  but  not  from  Bible  texts. 

The  Man  of  Galilee  preached.  He  drew  the  lines 
of  morality  closer  than  they  vvere  ever  drawn  before. 
He  taught  a  doctrine  which  made  it  impossible  for 
any  person  to  live  a  stainless  life.  He  knew  Holy 
Writ,  and  as  a  child  confounded  the  wise  and 
learned.  He  taught  from  birds  and  flowers,  from 
coins  and  candles,  from  sheep  and  foxes,  from  vines 
and  fruits,  but  He  took  no  Bible  texts. 

Bible  texts  are  a  convenience.  They  are  not  a 
necessity.  Noble  thoughts  may  be  impressed  with 
them.  Great  truths  may  be  instilled  without  them. 
They  often  serve  a  purpose.  When  a  purpose  is 
made  to  serve  some  Bible  text,  its  usefulness  is 
destroyed.  A  speaker  pervaded  with  a  great  pur 
pose,  if  experience  and  power  and  accomplishment 
be  at  his  command,  will  reach  and  bend  and  mould 
hearts  regardless  of  Bible  texts.  A  speaker  with- 
out  a  purpose,  devoid  of  tact  and  enthusiasm  and 
judgment,  with  many  Bible  texts  will  do  but  little 
good.  A  Bible  text  does  not  transform  a  wordly 
man  into  a  spiritual  teacher.  Great  texts  have  no 
mysterious  power  to  create  great  sermons.  Great 
minds,  the  noblest  handiwork  of  God,  conceive 
great  sermons  and  produce  them. 


206  CHURCH  TALKS. 

A  church  ^educated  soon  de- 
generates  to  heathenism.  No 
n  iuri.  doubt  the  unciviiized  and  bar 
barous  customs  engaged  in  by  the  tribes  of  India 
and  of  Siam  were  unknown  to  their  ancestors.  An 
ignorant  church,  in  all  ages,  has  become  a  supersti 
tious  and  a  cruel  church. 

Some  of  the  most  wicked  atrocities  ever  per 
petrated  have  been  committed  in  the  name  of  the 
church,  and  have  been  the  result  of  ignorance.  As 
the  world  has  become  educated,  the  church  has  be 
come  kind  and  generous  and  self-sacrificing.  To 
day,  only  among  the  bigoted  and  among  those  un 
educated,  are  the  old  church  feuds,  which  caused 
such  slaughters  in  the  past,  cherished  unforgiven. 

The  few  men  and  women  of  the  church  who  re 
tain  the  old  grievances,  and  hate  with  the  old  hat 
red,  are  living  in  an  age  of  which  they  have  no 
legitimate  part.  Thev  are  relics  of  former  cen 
turies.  They  are  not  living  with  the  noble  aim  of 
making  their  lives  conform  to  the  life  and  teach 
ings  of  Christ.  They  are  not  the  eradicators  of  evils. 
They  are  the  perpetuators  of  evils. 

Civilization  and  education,  broad  and  gen 
erous  and  forgiving  views  in  the  church  are  render 
ing  it  an  institution  for  good,  instead  of  an  agent 
for  revenge  and  persecution.  Formerly  science 
ennobled  the  church,  Now  the  church  ennobles 
science.  Formerly  the  state  held  in  restraint  the 
church.  Now  the  church  holds  in  restraint  the 
state.  Formerly  humanity  was  a  servant  of  the 


ENLIGHTENMENT  IN  CHURCH.  207 

church.  Now  the  church  is  a  servant  of  humanity. 
There  has  ever  been  enough  good  teaching.  The 
need  of  every  age  has  been  a  comprehension  of  what 
was  taught.  It  has  required  nineteen  centuries  for 
the  church  to  grasp  the  lessons  of  the  Man  of  Galilee. 
It  will  require  many  centuries  more  for  humanity, 
through  the  church,  to  learn  to  thoroughly  practice 
the  lessons  taught.  Then  death  will  not  be  a  neces 
sity  to  transport  humanity  to  heaven.  Humanity 
will  have  transported  heaven  to  earth,  which  is  the 
inheritance  of  the  righteous,  and  the  church  will 
have  performed  its  mission. 

&  $  <s>  &  & 

The  public  school  is  the  foundation  upon  which 
rests  an  enlightened  church.  In  all  ages,  religion 
without  education  has  meant  oppression  and  per 
secution.  

As  science  and  art  and  invention  have  thrived, 
church  beliefs  have  given  way  to  reasonableness. 
The  Divine  Being  worshiped  by  the  church  of  to-day 
is  kinder  than  the  One  of  previous  centuries. 


Thirty-two  thousand  people  were  registered  at  a 
recent  National  Convention  of  Christian  Endeavor. 
If  Christianity  is  good  for  the  old  to  die  by,  it  must 
certainly  be  good  for  the  young  to  live  by.  This 
organization,  which  sprang  into  existence  so  quick 
ly  has  spread  to  every  town  and  city  in  the  nation. 
It  has  become  a  powerful  organization  for  good.  It 
represents  one  of  the  best  elements  of  society. 


208  CHURCH  TALKS. 


^rea^or  does  nothing  in  vain. 
^  Often,  man  is  occupied  for  cen- 
V300CU  turies  in  attempting  to  discover 
the  Creator's  object  in  creating  in  some  direction. 
At  last,  after  man  has  studied  and  reasoned  for  ages 
upon  the  problem,  he  acquires  the  mental  capacity 
to  grasp  the  solution,  and  so  through  his  own  mental 
exertion  man  secures  for  himself  the  purposes  of 
the  Creator. 

For  many  centuries,  lightning  seemed  to  have  no 
use.  It  was  considered  a  scavenger  to  man.  It  was 
thought  to  be,  in  every  way,  an  enemy  to  man's 
best  interests.  The  Man  of  Galilee,  being  the 
Creator  of  lightning,  when  on  earth  nineteen  cen 
turies  ago  and  walking  and  living  and  talking 
daily  with  men,  might  have  revealed  to  man,  not 
only  the  fact  that  lightning  could  be  harnessed 
and  become  a  useful  servant  in  rapid  communica 
tion  and  locomotion,  the  Man  of  Galilee,  had  He  so 
desired,  could  have  revealed  to  man  the  rotundity 
of  the  earth,  the  revolution  of  the  planets,  the  cir 
culation  of  the  blood,  the  cause  of  eclipses,  the 
application  of  steam,  the  use  of  antiseptics  and 
anaesthetics  in  surgery.  Though  never  in  a  single 
instance  did  the  Man  of  Galilee  make  a  remark 
which,  after  nineteen  centuries,  could  be  brought 
to  prove  he  did  not  know  all  these  great  truths,  on 
the  other  hand,  in  no  instance  can  it  be  shown, 
that  He  made  a  single  remark  that  would  assist 
man  in  grasping  any  of  them. 

The  Man  of  Galilee  realized  of  how  great  value 


MAN'S  HIGHEST  GOOD.  209 

to  man  would  be  a  knowledge  of  all  the  great  truths 
that  man,  in  the  last  nineteen  centuries,  has  discov 
ered,  but  he  was  a  religious  teacher  who  didn't 
tell  his  pupils.  He  knew  that  of  far  more  value 
than  knowledge,  was  mental  development,  the 
power  to  discover  knowledge  for  one's  self. 

Had  the  Man  of  Galilee  solved  the  great  problems 
of  science  for  man,  through  lack  of  mental  exertion, 
His  favorite  creature  might  soon  have  degenerated 
to  one  ignorant  and  offensive.  So  it  is  evident 
that  man's  highest  good  is  in  mental  and  moral 
development,  and  that  mental  and  moral  develop 
ment  can  only  be  acquired  by  man  himself. 

$*      $>      <S?      &      5§> 

A  church  which  has  learned  to  work  unselfishly 
for  the  prosperity  of  a  rival  church  is  one  whose 
influence  is  great.  The  church  generous  even  to 
other  churches  is  the  only  one  typical  of  Christ. 


Men  and  women  are  happy  or  unhappy  according 
to  the  motive  that  actuates  them  in  their  work.  It 
is  a  social  law  that  the  greatest  happiness  which 
can  come  to  a  person  springs  from  labor  expended 
in  making  others  happy. 

No  doubt  God  requires  this  life  to  be  lived  on  earth, 
and  that  you  and  I  shall  exert  ourselves  here,  that 
He  may  develop  our  capacities  for  labor.  As  we 
reason  from  God,  we  can  only  conclude  that  God 
desires  workers.  It  is  Bible  that,  "The  hand  of  the 
diligent  shall  bear  rule,"  and  also  that,  "The  slothful 
shall  be  under  tribute." 


210  CHURCH  TALKS. 

The  Creator  does  nothing  in  vain.     He 


where  all  laws  compel  work,  and  drill  man  many 
years  in  physical  and  mental  exertion,  and  then 
let  the  grave  end  it.  If  man  is  to  enjoy  an  eternal 
existence,  then  earth  must  be  a  school  for  heaven, 
and  the  skills  every  one  acquires  here  is  used  there. 

The  Creator  is  a  worker.  His  work  is  as  careful 
and  as  painstaking  in  the  minute  as  in  the  mam 
moth.  He  exhibits  as  great  a  degree  of  skill  in  the 
creation  of  shells  and  flowers  and  pebbles,  as  in  the 
creation  of  worlds  and  suns  and  systems. 

The  Creator  has  great  tasks  set  aside  for  man,  as 
soon  as  man  can  acquire  the  skill,  working  on 
small  earthly  models,  to  be  trusted  with  actual 
work  which  begins  in  heaven. 

There  being  no  sickness,  no  disease  in  heaven, 
men  and  women  who  were  physicians  on  earth, 
will  be  sent  on  errands  of  mercy  to  heal  the  sick 
and  suffering  of  distant  worlds. 

Architects  on  earth  will  be  architects  in  heaven. 
Architects  of  medium  ability  will  at  first  be  en 
trusted  with  tasks  of  ordinary  importance.  Ar 
chitects  of  great  skill  will  be  set  at  work  at  once 
on  projects  that  demand  great  ability.  Christopher 
Wren  and  Michael  Angelo  and  Giotto  may  be 
shaping  mountain  ranges,  glens,  and  landscapes  of 
worlds  now  in  process  of  creation. 

Painters  of  great  ability  on  earth  will  have  great 
tasks  assigned  them  in  heaven.  Raphael,  Titian, 
Van  Dyck,  Pousin,  and  Correggio  may  now  be  en- 


HEAVEN.  211 

gaged  in  devising  cloud  effects  and  water  reflections 
similar  to  those  which  we  admire,  and  which  we 
know  surpass  the  paintings  of  the  most  skilled 
earthly  masters.  Painters  of  lesser  importance 
will  have  smaller  tasks  at  first  assigned  them.  They 
may  even  be  compelled  to  practice  on  canvass 
again  for  a  time,  till  they  have  at  least  acquired 
the  skill  that  Reubens  possessed  at  death. 

There  are  great  harmonies,  great  symphonies  to 
be  composed  and  played  arid  sung  in  heaven.  En 
gaged  upon  these  now  may  be  Handel,  Hayden, 
Mozart,  Mendelssohn,  Meyerbeer,  and  Wagner,  and 
later  they  will  be  enforced  by  Marchesi  and  Patti 
and  Brahms. 

The  young  woman  who  had  great  literary  ambi 
tions  on  earth,  but  who,  owing  to  her  poor  compo 
sition  here,  could  never  get  her  productions  in 
print,  in  heaven  will  be  encouraged  to  compose, 
and  her  productions  will  be  exhibited  in  quite  a 
prominent  place  and  there  remain  till  the  young 
woman  has  so  improved  through  practice,  that  she 
will  beg  to  have  her  first  efforts  taken  down  and 
removed.  All  authors  of  lesser  importance  will  be 
in  constant  association  with  Bacon  and  Gray, 
Lessing  and  Schiller,  Irving  and  Holland.  Through 
contact  with  such  master  minds,  and  the  spur  of 
good  natured  rivalry,  their  productions  will  soon 
bear  but  little  resemblance  to  those  which  they 
produced  on  earth. 

Hell  will  be  composed  of  two  classes.  The  first 
class  will  comprise  all  who,  when  on  earth,  were 


212  CHURCH  TALKS. 

they  rich  or  poor,  would  engage  in  no  kind  of  use 
ful  labor.  Their  punishment  will  be  to  engage 
constantly  in  that  labor  which  they  most  detested. 
The  second  class  will  comprise  all  who,  when  on 
earth,  were  industrious  and  skillful,  but  wicked. 
Their  punishment  will  be  to  constantly  be  deprived 
from  engaging  in  that  labor  for  which  they  feel 
they  were  here  so  well  drilled,  so  thoroughly  pre 
pared. 


